Journal Article

Salmonella spp. in Wild Free-Living Birds from Atlantic Forest Fragments in Southern Bahia, Brazil

Rodrigues, Dalia dos Prazeres, dos Santos, Eliege Jullia Eudoxia, Azevedo, Rafaela Porto, Wenceslau, Amauri Arias, Rocha, Josiane Moreira, Albuquerque, George Rêgo, Maciel, Bianca Mendes, Miranda, Flávia Regina, Lopes, Amanda Teixeira Sampaio

2020

Overview

Wild animals have an ecological function and can serve as sentinels to identify infectious agents and as indicators of environmental health. Among the zoonotic pathogens, Salmonella spp. deserve special attention due to their high worldwide prevalence and their ubiquity of hosts. With the aim of investigating the presence of Salmonella spp. in wild birds from the Atlantic Forest in southern Bahia, Brazil, we collected 114 fecal samples of wild birds (14 families) between 2016 and 2017. Fecal samples were collected by means of cloacal swab and subjected to microbiological culture to isolate and serotype Salmonella spp. specifically. Antibiotic susceptibility was determined using the disk diffusion test protocol. Only one bird, Ceratopipra rubrocapilla, tested positive for Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serotype Agona, which is the first record for this bird species. This isolate exhibited intermediate sensitivity to amikacin and gentamicin and sensitivity to the other 13 antibiotics tested. Results may indicate environmental preservation since the studied areas had minimal human activity and good sanitary quality. Despite the low prevalence, it is necessary to monitor wildlife and establish disease control and surveillance systems, especially for zoonotic diseases.

• Publisher: Hindawi Publishing Corporation,Hindawi,John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subject: Amikacin / Animals / Animals, Wild / Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology / Antibiotics / Bird Diseases / Birds / Birds - microbiology / Brazil / Disease control / Ecological function / Ecosystems / Environmental health / Epidemiology / Feces - microbiology / Female / Food / Forests / Gentamicin / Habitat fragmentation / Imipenem / Laboratories / Male / Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Microbiological culture / Pathogens / Preservation / Public health / Salmonella / Salmonella - classification / Salmonella - drug effects / Salmonella - isolation & purification / Salmonella Infections, Animal - microbiology / Sensitivity / Species Specificity / Sulbactam / Surveillance systems / Tazobactam / Test procedures / Wild animals / Wildlife / Zoonoses / Zoonoses - microbiology