ABSTRACT

Salmonella arizona bacteremia was diagnosed in four snakes. Clinical signs were variable and ranged from animals having no clinical signs to profound lethargy. Diagnosis was based upon ante-mortem recovery of the organism from blood in all four snakes and from tissues collected post-mortem in two snakes. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to determine relatedness of the isolates. The serotype for three of the isolates was 51:Z4,Z23. The fourth isolate was genetically different from the others, but had a similar serotype (48:Z4,Z23). These S. arizona serotypes appear to be pathogenic in snakes.