Oral bacterial flora of Indian cobra (Naja naja) and their antibiotic susceptibilities

OBJECTIVES: The objective of the present work was to examine the bacterial flora associated with the oral cavity of Indian cobra and to study their antibiogram. METHODS: Oral swabs, collected from six healthy (4 males and 2 females) adult cobra, were subjected to microbiological examination through differential media. A total of 74 isolates which demonstrated noticeable colony characters were studied with different biochemical tests. The strains that showed distinctive colonies, morphology and biochemical parameters were additionally subjected to phylogenetic characterization using 16S rRNA gene sequences. Further, the isolates were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing using ICOSA-20-plus and ICOSA-20-minus. RESULTS: Microscopic examination of the oral cavity of Indian cobra revealed the dominance of Gram-negative bacteria over Gram-positive. The oral microflora constituted of bacteria such as Salmonella sp. (S. typhi, S. paratyphi A); Pseudomonas sp. (P. aeruginosa, P. fluorescence); Proteus sp. (P. mirabilis, P. penneri, P. vulgaris); E. coli; Morganella sp.; Citrobacter sp. (C. diversus, C. freundii); Aeromonas sp. (A. hydrophila, A. salmonicida); Enterobacter sp. (E. aerogens); Acinetobacter sp. (A. baumannii); Neisseria sp.; Serratia sp.; Bacillus sp. (B. cereus, B. megatarium, B. atrophaeus and B. weihenstephanensis); Enterococcus sp. (E. faecalis, E. faecium); Staphylococcus sp. (S. aureus, S. epidermidis); Alcaligenes sp.; Chryseobacterium sp. and Micrococcus sp. Most of the isolates were resistant towards antibiotics such as Penicillin, Cefpodoxime, Amoxyclav, Co-Trimoxazole, Ticarcillin, Erythromycin and Nalidixic acid while sensitive towards Ciprofloxacin, Gentamicin, Ofloxacin, Sparfloxacin, Tobromycin, Ceftriaxone, Tetracycline, Novobiocin and Imipenem. CONCLUSIONS: The secondary complications of the snake bite victims should be managed with appropriate antibiotics after proper examination of the bacterial flora from the wound sites.