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.
Birds are important hosts in the maintenance and spread of ticks worldwide, including several species of Amblyomma which harbor rickettsial agents as members of the spotted fever group (SFG). The current survey shows the diversity of tick and rickettsial agents infecting ticks on wild birds from an Atlantic rainforest in the state of Bahia, Brazil. A total of 365 birds were captured, representing two orders, 22 families and 51 species, among which 68 specimens (18.6%) were parasitized. Overall, 132 immature ticks (81 larvae and 51 nymphs) were identified to species level, representing six recognized species of the genus Amblyomma: Amblyomma longirostre (n = 45), Amblyomma nodosum (n = 40), Amblyomma varium (n = 5), Amblyomma parkeri (n = 2), Amblyomma coelebs (n = 3) and Amblyomma calcaratum (n = 1). Amplification by PCR and sequencing of rickettsial genes (gltA and ompA), detected the presence of Rickettsia DNA in 12 (9.1%) of the ticks. Rickettsia amblyommatis was the only agent detected in nine larvae and two nymphs of A. longirostre and one nymph of A. varium with 99-100% similarity.
The objective of this study was to investigate the frequency of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii present in wild mammals that were trap captured in forest fragments in the State of Bahia, northeastern Brazil. A total of 368 individuals (246 rodents, 104 marsupials and 18 bats) were captured using live catch traps. Serum samples were tested using the modified agglutination test, with a cut-off point at 1:25 dilution. The total occurrence of antibodies to T. gondii was 10.6% (39/368), being 16.3% (17/104) in marsupials, 8.5% (21/246) in rodents, and 5.5% (1/18) in bats. Antibody titers varied between 25 and 50 for rodents, between 25 and 400 for marsupials, and were 25 for bats. This is the first report on antibodies to T. gondii in certain rodent species (Thaptomys nigrita, Hylaeamys laticeps, and Cerradomys subflavus), marsupial species (Monodelphis americana, Gracilinanus microtarsus, Gracilinanus agilis and Marmosops incanus), and bats of the genus Rhynchonycteris. The presence of antibodies to T. gondii in wild mammals demonstrates the possibility of these animals as sentinels of toxoplasmosis, especially on regions under high anthropogenic effect.
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