Abstract

Asian elephants possess one of the thickest skins among animals but, injuries to skin are not uncommon. Almost all the wounds get contaminated, if unattended immediately. The chances of progressing of contamination into infection is more and when such infection gets established and developed further the wound becomes chronic. In such cases, wound management strategies need to be revised accordingly. From the clinical point of view, rather than identifying the organism responsible for infection, sensitivity of that organism towards available antibiotics (antibiogram) is the information needed. The study was conducted on captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) with cutaneous wounds within Kerala and outside over a period of three years. The sensitivity, intermediate sensitivity and resistance to commonly used antibiotics were recorded where resistance was predominant. From this study, it is recommended that an antibiogram should be a part of wound management protocol. Since captive animals share environment with humans, livestock, other animals etc., antimicrobial resistance is an emerging global concern which require further studies taking zoonosis and one health approach into consideration.

Keywords : Chronic wounds, captive elephant, wound fluid, antibiogram, antimicrobial resistance