Salmonella carriage by geckos detected within households in Malawi

Catherine N Wilson; Patrick Musicha; Mathew A Beale; Yohane Diness; Oscar Kanjerwa; Chifundo Salifu; Zefaniah Katuah; Patricia Duncan; John Nyangu; Andrew Mungu; Muonaouza Deleza; Lawrence Banda; Lumbani Makhaza; Nicola Elviss; Christopher P Jewell; Gina Pinchbeck; Nicholas R Thomson; Nicholas A Feasey; Eric M Fèvre

doi:10.1016/j.onehlt.2024.100848

Salmonella carriage by geckos detected within households in Malawi

One Health. 2024 Jul 11:19:100848. doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2024.100848. eCollection 2024 Dec.

Authors

Catherine N Wilson^{1

2

3

4}, Patrick Musicha^{2

3}, Mathew A Beale³, Yohane Diness², Oscar Kanjerwa², Chifundo Salifu², Zefaniah Katuah², Patricia Duncan⁵, John Nyangu⁵, Andrew Mungu⁵, Muonaouza Deleza⁶, Lawrence Banda⁶, Lumbani Makhaza², Nicola Elviss⁷, Christopher P Jewell⁸, Gina Pinchbeck¹, Nicholas R Thomson^{3

9}, Nicholas A Feasey^{2

10

11}, Eric M Fèvre^{1

12}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK.
² Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Programme, Blantyre, Malawi.
³ Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK.
⁴ The Queen's Veterinary School Hospital, University of Cambridge, UK.
⁵ Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Department of Animal Heath and Production, Malawi.
⁶ Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Bunda, Lilongwe, Malawi.
⁷ UK Health Security Agency, London, UK.
⁸ Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
⁹ The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
¹⁰ Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK.
¹¹ The School of Medicine, University of Andrews, St. Andrews, UK.
¹² International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.

Abstract

Salmonella was isolated from 23/79 (29.1%) pooled gecko stool samples from households in southern Malawi. Whole genome sequencing of 47 individual isolates within this collection revealed 27 Salmonella serovars spanning two subspecies. Our results demonstrate that geckos play an important role in the carriage of Salmonella within households.

Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance; Gecko; Household; Malawi; Salmonella.

Grants and funding

WT_/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom