Chlamydiaceae in North Atlantic Seabirds Admitted to a Wildlife Rescue Center in Western France.
Birds are the primary hosts of Chlamydia psittaci, a bacterium that can cause avian chlamydiosis in birds and psittacosis in humans. Wild seabirds are frequently admitted to wildlife rescue centers (WRC) at European Atlantic coasts, for example, in connection with oil spills. To investigate the extent of chlamydial shedding by these birds and the resulting risk for animals in care and the medical staff, seabirds from a French WRC were sampled from May 2011 to January 2014. By use of a quantitative PCR (qPCR), 195 seabirds belonging to 4 orders, 5 families and 13 species were examined, of which 18.5% proved to be Chlamydiaceae positive. The highest prevalence of shedders was found in northern gannets (Morus bassanus) (41%), followed by European herring gulls (Larus argentatus) (14%) and common murres (Uria aalge) (7%). Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of qPCR-positive northern gannet samples revealed two variants of a strain closely related to C. psittaci. In European herring gulls and in one common murre, strains showing high sequence similarity to the atypical Chlamydiaceae-like C122 previously found in gulls were detected. Our study shows that seabirds from the northeastern Atlantic Ocean carry several chlamydial organisms, including C. psittaci-related strains. The staff in WRCs should take protective measures, particularly in the case of mass admissions of seabirds.
University Paris-Est, Anses, Animal Health Laboratory, Bacterial Zoonoses Unit, Maisons-Alfort, France.
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Aaziz
Wildlife Health Centre, Oniris, Nantes Atlantic College of Veterinary Medicine, Food Science and Engineering, Nantes, France INRA, UMR1300 Biology, Epidemiology and Risk Analysis in Animal Health, Nantes, France LUNAM University, Oniris, Nantes, France.
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Gourlay
University Paris-Est, Anses, Animal Health Laboratory, Bacterial Zoonoses Unit, Maisons-Alfort, France.
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Vorimore
Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (Federal Research Institute for Animal Health), OIE Reference Laboratory for Chlamydiosis, Jena, Germany.
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Sachse
Laboratory of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
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Siarkou
University Paris-Est, Anses, Animal Health Laboratory, Bacterial Zoonoses Unit, Maisons-Alfort, France karine.laroucau@anses.fr.
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Laroucau
D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000382:microbiology*; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D002691:Chlamydophila psittaci / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D009956:Psittacosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*