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Detection of Salmonella Reservoirs in Birds of Prey Hosted in an Italian Wildlife Centre: Molecular and Antimicrobial Resistance Characterisation

Authors :
Carlo Corradini
Andrea Francesco De Bene
Valeria Russini
Virginia Carfora
Patricia Alba
Gessica Cordaro
Matteo Senese
Giuliana Terracciano
Ilaria Fabbri
Alessandro Di Sirio
Fabiola Di Giamberardino
Pierpaolo Boria
Maria Laura De Marchis
Teresa Bossù
Source :
Microorganisms, Vol 12, Iss 6, p 1169 (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2024.

Abstract

In the European Union, salmonellosis is one of the most important zoonoses reported. Poultry meat and egg products are the most common food matrices associated with Salmonella presence. Moreover, wild and domestic animals could represent an important reservoir that could favour the direct and indirect transmission of pathogens to humans. Salmonella spp. can infect carnivorous or omnivorous wild birds that regularly ingest food and water exposed to faecal contamination. Birds kept in captivity can act as reservoirs of Salmonella spp. following ingestion of infected prey or feed. In this paper, we describe the isolation of different Salmonella serovars in several species of raptors hosted in aviaries in an Italian wildlife centre and in the raw chicken necks used as their feed but intended for human consumption. Characterisations of strains were carried out by integrating classical methods and whole genome sequencing analysis. The strains of S. bredeney isolated in poultry meat and birds belonged to the same cluster, with some of them being multidrug-resistant (MDR) and carrying the Col(pHAD28) plasmid-borne qnrB19 (fluoro)quinolone resistance gene, thus confirming the source of infection. Differently, the S. infantis found in feed and raptors were all MDR, carried a plasmid of emerging S. infantis (pESI)-like plasmid and belonged to different clusters, possibly suggesting a long-lasting infection or the presence of additional undetected sources. Due to the high risk of fuelling a reservoir of human pathogens, the control and treatment of feed for captive species are crucial.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20762607
Volume :
12
Issue :
6
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Microorganisms
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.3f1fa19da51943e68ef8ad43df5c204a
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12061169