TDK conference 2024

Upper respiratory tract infections of rabbits occur more and more frequently in veterinary clinics, as the number of rabbits kept as pets is constantly increasing along with the demand for their quick and effective treatment. One of the greatest obstacles to this is often the spread of antimicrobial resistance. For this reason, the aim of this research was to identify the most common and most significant bacterial species in the upper respiratory tract of rabbits and to determine their resistance profiles by examining rabbits kept as pets. This knowledge will help to reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics, which greatly contributes to the spread of antibiotic resistance, and helps to promote the effective medical treatment of rabbits.

During the research, particular attention was paid to members of the Pasteurellaceae family, especially Pasteurella multocida, and also Bordetella, Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, and Moraxella strains were examined. A total of 73 rabbits were sampled by nasal swabs, from which various bacterial strains were isolated, and species identification was performed by PCR assays and 16S rRNA sequencing analysis. During this process, a new Moraxella PCR reaction. was developed. Furthermore, the subspecies, LPS genotype, Heddleston serotype, and capsule type of the Pasteurella strains were also determined. The resistance profile of clinically relevant bacterial strains were assessed using disk diffusion tests against 11 antibiotics. The most frequently detected bacterial species belonged to the Staphylococcus genus (n=20). They showed higher resistance to penicillin G (50%) and augmentin (40%). The level of resistance was low against doxycycline (10%), chloramphenicol, marbofloxacin, and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (5%). Moraxella strains were the second most common (n=18). Resistance were observed to two antibiotics: pradofloxacin (11.1%) and penicillin G (5.6%). Strains belonging to the Pasteurella genus proved to be the third most common (n=11), and resistance were found to three antibiotics: augmentin (45.5%), sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (18.2%), and penicillin G (9.1%). Strains of the Pseudomonas genus were the fourth most common (n=8), and every strain proved to be multidrug-resistant (MDR). Marbofloxacin was the most effective with 100% susceptibility, but susceptibility was also relatively high for gentamicin (75%), tulathromycin (62.5%), pradofloxacin (62.5%), and enrofloxacin (62.5%). Bordetella species proved to be the rarest (n=3) and we detected resistance only to augmentin (100%). The obtained susceptibility profiles largely correspond with observations found in the literature, as well as with the ab ovo resistance characteristics of the bacterial species.