Attaching and effacing Escherichia coli O103:K+:H− in red‐legged partridges

A Survey for Escherichia coli Virulence Factors in Asymptomatic Free-Ranging Parrots

“…These strains are frequently isolated from domestic animals. There are few reports of the presence of atypical EPEC in birds, especially the isolates obtained from poultry [30–32]. There are also reports of atypical EPEC causing fatal outbreaks in backyard passerine species [18], and carriers have been found among feral pigeons and rehabilitated seagulls [20, 22].…”

Prevalence of Escherichia coli, Salmonella sp. and Campylobacter sp. in the intestinal flora of farm-reared, restocked and wild red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa): is restocking using farm-reared birds a risk?

“…E. coli is also considered an important cause of enteritis and mortality in farmed redlegged partridges, but published information is limited to one case report (La Ragione et al 2004).…”

Occurrence of avian pathogenicEscherichia coliand antimicrobial-resistantE. coliin red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa): sanitary concerns of farming

“…To date the presence of APEC has been related to extra-intestinal disease in chicken, turkeys (Meleagris gallopa) and Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) (Allan et al, 1993;Arenas et al, 1999;Ramírez et al, 2009;Salehi & Ghanbarpour, 2010), but not as yet in red-legged partridges. The only existing information on the implication of E. coli in disease in red-legged partridges consists of a report describing an outbreak of naturally occurring attaching and effacing E. coli in farmed red-legged partridges (La Ragione et al, 2004). The comparative screening of two antimicrobial substances that are commonly employed on partridge farms but also in poultry (gentamicin and enrofloxacin) showed that growth of E. coli above breakpoint concentration occurred in approximately one-half of the cloacal swab samples tested from healthy farmed and restocked partridges, in contrast to results obtained in free-living red-legged partridges.…”

“…However, little information is available on the prevalence and importance of APEC and multi-resistant bacteria in game bird production despite the growing importance of this sector. The degree of implication of APEC in sotermed colibacillosis outbreaks and the general prevalence of APEC in red-legged partridge farms remains unknown (La Ragione et al, 2004). This makes the control and prevention of mortality outbreaks on farms difficult and leads to the use of antimicrobials as a preventive measure, both on farms and prior to restocking in the wild.…”