Prevalences of Zoonotic Bacteria Among Seabirds in Rehabilitation Centers Along the Pacific Coast of California and Washington, Usa

Abstract

Many seabirds are rehabilitated annually by wildlife rehabilitation centers along the Pacific Coast, USA. Although various strains of zoonotic bacteria have been isolated from seabirds, risks to rehabilitators at these centers have not been well documented. From November 2001 through January 2003, we determined the prevalence of detectable enteric fauna by isolation and characterization of Gram-negative bacteria from cloacal swabs taken from 26 common murres (Uria aalge), 49 gulls (Larus spp.), and 14 other seabirds treated by rehabilitators in California and Washington (USA). At least 25 bacterial species were identified, including multiple strains of Escherichia coli, as well as Enterobacter cloacae, Citrobacter freundii, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Antibiotic resistance was found in 13 of 19 bacterial isolates tested, including E. coli, K. pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumanii, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Potential transfer of these bacteria poses a risk to wildlife rehabilitators and to seabirds in these centers, as well as to free-ranging birds.

Prevalence and Antibiotic-Resistance Characteristics of Enterococcus Spp. Isolated From Free-Living and Captive Raptors in Central Illinois

“…Free-living raptors also are important sentinels for potential pathogens found in their environment (Winsor et al, 1981;Steele et al, 2005). Enterococcus faecalis is responsible for the majority of human enterococcal infections, and was the predominant species recovered from raptors in our study.…”

“…With the use of raptors as sentinels, wildlife hospitals and rehabilitation centers can screen animals to qualify and quantify the potential pathogen load carried by the animal, and can infer information about the environment from which the bird originated. In this way, trends in antibiotic susceptibility and developing resistance patterns of environmental bacteria may be monitored (Steele et al, 2005). In these centers, individual patients are often treated with prolonged antimicrobial therapy, which may contribute to the development of antimicrobial-resistant gastrointestinal flora and the establishment of nosocomial pathogens.…”

Microbiota cloacal aeróbia de cracídeos cativos no Rio Grande do Sul e sua susceptibilidade a antimicrobianos

“…Esse resultado era esperado, uma vez que já foi demonstrado que essa espécie bacteriana é frequentemente isolada da microbiota do trato digestório de aves domésticas e silvestres em condições normais (Barnes & Valliancourt 2003, Mattes et al 2005. Estudos realizados por D' Aloia et al (1996) e Steele et al (2005) também demonstraram frequencias elevadas, respectivamente, 71% e 90%, em amostras fecais de gaivotas e de espécies de aves marinhas. Entretanto, em amostras cloacais obtidas de passeriformes, foram observados ín-dices de isolamento de Escherichia coli de 1,0-9,5% (Brittingham et al 1988, Gibbs et al 2007.…”

“…e Listeria spp. também foram isolados dessas aves (Steele et al 2005, Epstein et al 2007, Ganapathy et al 2007). Além disso, já foi relatada a possibilidade de transmissão de patógenos, como Salmonella spp.…”

Neonatal Mortality in New Zealand Sea Lions (Phocarctos Hookeri ) at Sandy Bay, Enderby Island, Auckland Islands From 1998 to 2005

“…Species of Klebsiella are widespread pathogens capable of causing severe nosocomial outbreaks in humans hospitalized in intensive care units and in neonatal wards resulting in septicemia (Peñ a et al, 1998;Lebessi et al, 2002). Species of Klebsiella have been commonly cultured from various internal tissues in marine mammals (Stroud and Roffe, 1979;Vedros et al, 1982;Baker and McCann, 1989;Herná ndez-Castro et al, 2005) and in a vast range of wild birds, reptiles, and terrestrial mammals (Bartoszcze et al, 1990;Aguirre et al, 1994;Montgomery et al, 2002;Steele et al, 2005). Yet, species of Klebsiella have never previously been reported to cause an epidemic in an animal population .…”