Salmonella septicaemia in a smooth snake

REPTILE medicine has evolved significantly in recent decades; however, most of the information available refers to tropical and subtropical captive and free-living species. The European fauna makes up about 1 per cent of the extant snakes (35 out of 3217 species) (McDiarmid and others 2012) but despite the low number of species, there is limited knowledge on the bacterial pathogens and diseases associated with them (Cooper and others 1985). Several of the native European snakes, mostly Vipera species, have been identified as reservoirs for salmonella; Salmonella enterica subspecies III being one of the most common isolates (Briones …