Occurrence of Pathogenic Bacteria in Small Mammals - Inhabiting Poultry Farms of Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Pakistan

Byline: A. Mehmood, M. S. Ansari, S. Akhter, A. A. Khan, I. Hussain, Shams-ul-Hassan, T. Z. Qureshi and B. A. Rakha

Abstract

This study was designed to determine the prevalence of pathogenic bacterial species in black rat (Rattus rattus), house mouse (Mus musculus) and mongoose (Herpestes javanicus) residing at poultry farms in Rawalpindi/Islamabad. For this purpose, sixty seven specimens (black rat 46; house mouse 16; mongoose 5) were captured to check the presence of bacterial species in faecal matter, urine and blood of these species. The faecal matter of black rat was found to be contaminated with Escherchia coli (89.13%; 41), Salmonella spp. (58.69; 27), Proteus spp. (32.6%; 15). Salmonella spp. (30.4%; 14) was also isolated from urine samples of black rat. Similarly the faecal matter of house mouse was contaminated with E. coli (37.5%; 6), Salmonella spp. (25%; 4), and Proteus spp. (18.75%; 3). Mongoose urine was contaminated with Klebsiella spp. (20%; 1). However the blood samples of all the species captured from the poultry farms were found negative for Salmonella spp., E. coli, Klebsiella spp. and Proteus spp.

In conclusion, black rat, house mouse and mongoose are the main reservoirs for the bacterial species at poultry farms of Rawalpindi/Islamabad.

Keywords: Salmonella, poultry farm, mongoose.

The vertebrate pests residing at poultry farms, can cause considerable damage to the food, food products, buildings, stored products, and also serve as potential source of pathogenic diseases in human and animals. These animals transmit the bacteria through faeces, urine, and hair remnants (Padula et al., 2000; Mehmood et al., 2012).

Rural livestock, spilled feedstuffs, water and availability of shelter favours the formation of vertebrate pest colonies in the vicinity of poultry farms (Meerburg et al., 2006; Leirs et al., 2004) which are potential risk for the birds (Henzler et al., 1998). These pests serve as reservoir of bacterial species which can transmit diseases to the environment, poultry feed and animals (Rose et al., 2000). The bacterial incidences can be controlled through pest control measures in hen houses (Henzler et al., 1998).

In previous studies, bandicoot rat and shrews such as bandicoot rat present at poultry farms are a source of pathogenic bacterial infections (Mehmood et al., 2011, 2012). To our knowledge the occurrence of bacterial species in house mouse, black rat and mongoose residing at poultry farms has not been studied. Therefore present study was designed to identify the occurrence of pathogenic bacteria in black rat, house mouse and mongoose inhabiting poultry farms in Rawalpindi/Islamabad.

Materials and methods

The study...