1Department of Biotechnology, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China
2Department of Animal Science, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China
3Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Beijing, 100071, China
4Hainan Dosho Python technique Co., Ltd, Haikou, 57000, China
Department of Biotechnology, Hainan University, Haikou, 570 228, China
*Corresponding author's e-mail: jifengzeng@126.com, jiping.zheng@hainu.edu.cn
Online published on 17 September, 2018.
Sudden deaths without any specific clinical sign occurred among oneyear old young ones on Siamese crocodile(Crocodylus siamensis) farms in Hainan province, China, during winter and spring in 2012–2013. The auto psyshowed that the internal organs seemed normal except full of clear ascites in abdominal cavity. There were total six bacterial species isolated, Edwardsiella tarda, Proteus penneri, Proteus vulgaris, Enterobacter asburiae, Citrobacter freundii and Micrococcus luteus from either the heart bloods or the spleens and livers. The virulence of isolated strains was tested by intraperitoneal inoculation in female Chinese edible frogs (Rana rugulosa or Hoplobatrachus rugulosus). The six-day mortality revealed that E. tarda was the most pathogenic, whereas P. penneri and E. asburiae exhibited no infection at all, and the rest demonstrated similar inconspicuous toxicity. All these findings suggest that E. tarda would be the principal suspect causing death of Siamese crocodile. The sensitivities of the E. tarda isolates were tested against 20 kinds of antimicrobial drugs. The results showed that ceftazidime, norfloxacin and amikacin were highly sensitive to the isolates of E.tarda.
Crocodylus siamensis, Edwardsiella tarda, Hoplobatrachus rugulosus, Sudden death
