| Summary: | <i>Salmonella</i> enterica is a pathogen capable of colonizing various environments, including the intestinal tract of different animals such as mammals, birds, and reptiles, which can act as carriers. <i>S. enterica</i> infection induces different clinical diseases, gastroenteritis being the most common, which in some cases, can evolve to septicemia and meningitis. Reptiles and amphibians have been reported as a reservoir of <i>Salmonella</i>, and transmission of the pathogen to humans has been documented. This study aimed to determine the presence of virulence genes and characterize the genotypic antibiotic resistance profile in <i>Salmonella</i> strains isolated from <i>Caiman crocodilus fuscus</i> obtained in situ (natural habitat) in Prado, Tolima, Colombia in a previous study and stored in a strain bank in our laboratory. Fifteen <i>Salmonella</i> strains were evaluated through endpoint PCR to determine the presence of resistance genes and virulence genes. The genes <i>bla</i><sub>TEM</sub>, <i>strB</i>, and <i>sul1</i> were detected in all the strains that confer resistance to ampicillin, streptomycin, and sulfamethoxazole, as well as the virulence genes <i>invA</i>, <i>pefA</i>, <i>prgH</i>, <i>spaN</i>, <i>tolC</i>, <i>sipB</i>, <i>sitC</i>, <i>pagC</i>, <i>msgA</i>, <i>spiA</i>, <i>sopB</i>, <i>sifA</i>, <i>lpfA</i>, <i>csgA</i>, <i>hilA</i>, <i>orgA</i>, <i>iroN</i>, <i>avrA</i>, and <i>sivH</i>, indicating the possible role of babilla (<i>Caiman crocodilus fuscus</i>) as a carrier of multidrug-resistant bacteria.
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