title: Bacteriological survey of feces from feral pigeons in Japan.
abstract: Some public areas in Japan such as parks and gardens can be highly contaminated with pigeon feces. We examined levels of four bacterial contaminations in fecal samples from feral pigeons in 7 prefectures. We isolated Salmonella Typhimurium and S. Cerro from 17 (3.9%) of 436 samples, as well as Mycobacterium spp. including M. avium-intracellulare complex from 29 (19.0%) of 153 samples. The polymerase chain reaction detected Chlamydia psittaci and C. pecorum in 106 (22.9%) of 463 samples, but E. coli O-157 was not isolated from any of the samples. Our results indicate that pigeon feces are a source of several zoonotic agents for birds, animals and humans.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Chikako
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyazawa
authors.forename: Masahisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watarai
authors.forename: Naotaka
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ishiguro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D002689:Chlamydia / Q000235:genetics; D010856:Columbidae; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D015995:Prevalence; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000235:genetics