title: Barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) test negative for Salmonella.
abstract: Farmers around the world have been urged to eliminate barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) from their buildings, based on the unproven assumption that these birds amplify and spread Salmonella to livestock, humans, and stored food. However, we tested over 500 barn swallows in Sweden and found no evidence that they carry Salmonella. Our results cast doubt on the hypothesis that barn swallows are competent reservoirs of Salmonella and suggest that their role, if any, is limited to being accidental hosts of the bacterium.
authors.affiliation: Section for Zoonotic Ecology and Epidemiology, School of Pure and Applied Natural Sciences, University of Kalmar, Kalmar, Sweden. paul.haemig@hik.se
authors.forename: Paul D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Haemig
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hernandez
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Waldenström
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bonnedahl
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Olsen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D002353:Carrier State; D012475:Salmonella / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012481:Salmonella Infections, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D046388:Swallows / Q000382:microbiology*; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology