title: Salmonellae in avian wildlife in Norway from 1969 to 2000.
abstract: Postmortem records of wild-living birds in Norway with laboratory-confirmed findings of salmonella infection were summarized for the period from 1969 to 2000. Salmonella spp. were isolated from 470 birds belonging to 26 species. The salmonella-positive birds included 441 small passerines, 15 gulls, 5 waterfowl, 4 birds of prey, 3 doves, and 2 crows. The bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) was by far the most frequently recorded species (54% of the cases). Salmonella enterica serover Typhimurium was recovered from all cases except from one hooded crow (Corvus corone), which yielded serovar Paratyphi-B var. Java. Variant O:4,12 comprised 96% (451 cases) of all serovar Typhimurium isolates, including all the passerines, while variant O:4,5,12 accounted for the remaining 4% (18 cases). The occurrence of salmonellae in small passerines showed a distinct seasonality, with a peak in February and March. Plasmid profile analysis of 346 isolates of serovar Typhimurium O:4,12 detected six profiles, of which two comprised 66 and 28% of the isolates, respectively. Phage typing of 52 randomly selected isolates of serovar Typhimurium O:4,12 from passerines detected four types: DT 40 (54%), U277 (35%), DT 99 (6%), and DT 110 (4%).
authors.affiliation: National Veterinary Institute, The Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, N-0033 Oslo, Norway. thorbjorn.refsum@vetinst.no
authors.forename: Thorbjørn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Refsum
authors.forename: Kjell
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Handeland
authors.forename: Dorte Lau
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Baggesen
authors.forename: Gudmund
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Holstad
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kapperud
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001434:Bacteriophage Typing; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D009664:Norway; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D012475:Salmonella / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology; D012481:Salmonella Infections, Animal / Q000382:microbiology*