Foot Health and the Emergence of Antimicrobial-Resistant Citrobacter youngae and Aerococcus viridans in Captive Asiatic Elephants of Central India
Diksha Lade
*
School of Wildlife Forensic and Health, N.D.V.S.U., Jabalpur (M.P), India.
Devendra Podhade
School of Wildlife Forensic and Health, N.D.V.S.U., Jabalpur (M.P), India.
Kajal k. Jadav
School of Wildlife Forensic and Health, N.D.V.S.U., Jabalpur (M.P), India.
Anju Nayak
Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Co.V.sc, Jabalpur, N.D.V.S.U., Jabalpur (M.P), India.
Rakhi Vaish
Department of Veterinary Anatomy, Co.V.sc, Jabalpur, N.D.V.S.U., Jabalpur (M.P), India.
R.V. Singh
Department of Veterinary Public Health, Co.V.sc, Jabalpur, N.D.V.S.U., Jabalpur (M.P), India.
Akhilesh Mishra
Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, (M.P), India.
Sandip Agrawal
Kanha Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, (M.P), India.
Rohan Bharade
School of Wildlife Forensic and Health, N.D.V.S.U., Jabalpur (M.P), India.
Omkar Vitha
School of Wildlife Forensic and Health, N.D.V.S.U., Jabalpur (M.P), India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Foot affections are a major welfare and health concern in captive Asiatic elephants (Elephas maximus indicus), often leading to chronic pathological lesions. This study aimed to systematically investigate the prevalence of foot affections and characterize the bacterial agents and their antimicrobial resistance patterns in captive elephants across five prominent Tiger Reserves in Madhya Pradesh, Central India. A total of 59 captive Asiatic elephants were screened for various foot lesions, including wounds, nail cracks, and abscesses. Samples (swabs from pus and fluids) were collected and cultured for aerobic and facultative anaerobic bacteria. Isolates were identified using the BD Phoenix M50 automated system, and their antimicrobial susceptibility was determined via disc diffusion and automated systems (CLSI, 2018). Pathological lesions, categorized as mild, moderate, or severe, were frequently observed. Among the isolates, 24 were identified as Citrobacter youngae a Gram-negative rod and 6 as Aerococcus viridans a Gram-positive coccus. C. youngae isolates showed significant resistance to several key antibiotics, including Penicillin-G, Amoxicillin-clavulanate, Levofloxacin, Ceftriaxone and Clindamycin, but remained sensitive to Piperacillin-tazobactam, Ciprofloxacin and Gentamicin. The Multidrug Resistance (MAR) index for C. youngae was 0.290. A. viridans isolates showed high resistance to Amoxicillin-clavulanate and Ampicillin (MAR index 0.179) but were broadly sensitive to numerous third and fourth-generation cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones and aminoglycosides.
Keywords: Ampicillin, captive, Citrobacter youngae, Aerococcus viridans