Cave-dwelling bats carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria Salmonella spp. that pose a public health threat in West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
Netopirji, ki živijo v jamah, prenašajo bakterije Salmonella spp., odporne proti antibiotikom, ki ogrožajo javno zdravje v provinci Zahodna Nusa Tenggara, Indonezija

english

2025

volume 54, issue 1

antibiotics   bats   drug resistance   public health   Salmonella   West Nusa Tenggara (Indonesia)

ZRC SAZU
(Obvezni izvod spletne publikacije)

Salmonella spp. is a bacteria that can be transmitted between humans and bats through feces, food, and water contamination in the environment, causing foodborne illness. This bacterial infection will be more hazardous if the bacteria become resistant to antibiotics. Bats are wild animals that have the potential to spread resistant germs into the human environment because the habitat where they live and forage is shrinking, forcing bats to migrate from their natural habitat to the human environment. Although bats do not receive antibiotics, they can be contaminated by bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics because they have close contact with humans, animals, and the environment. They are contaminated with resistant bacteria when they look for food and drink. Our research focuses on identifying the antibiotic resistance that exists in Salmonella spp. in bats in caves because it can endanger public health. The mist net is set at the cave’s mouth between 4 to 10 pm and the mist net is checked periodically. If a bat is caught, it is swabbed with a sterile cotton bud and then examined for Gram staining and biochemistry to identify bacteria. Salmonella spp. isolates were evaluated for antibiotic sensitivity with tetracycline, azithromycin, cefotaxime, amoxicillin, gentamicin, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, and ciprofloxacin. We successfully isolated nine isolates Salmonella spp. bacteria from 135 samples.The sensitivity test results showed that Salmonellaspp. bacteria from cave bats in West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, were resistant to the antibiotics azithromycin 77.7%, amoxicillin 22.2%, and tetracycline 11.1%.

16.01.2026