title: Determination of fluoroquinolone antibiotic residues in the plasma of Eurasian griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) in Spain.
abstract: Due to the possible toxicological impact, the accumulation of pharmaceuticals in wildlife as a consequence of human practices is of growing concern. The consumption of carrion at feeding stations - the so-called 'vulture restaurants' - with no management of the veterinary drugs it contains may expose scavengers to pharmaceuticals. To demonstrate this, we analyzed plasma from Eurasian griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) originating from two different areas of Spain for antibiotics such as enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin, its primary metabolite. Quinolone residues were detected in about 65% (n=106) of birds, of which 15.1% (16/106) had quantifiable amounts of enrofloxacin (0.049±0.102μg/mL) and 5.7% (6/106) of ciprofloxacin (0.009±0.007μg/mL). The differences in exposure between the two sampled areas are attributable to different types of carrion management: the vultures that fed in areas with a high density of dead livestock (supplied directly to feeding stations) were more prone to exposure than those that sought food in areas where carcass availability is more unpredictable. Our findings are evidence that vultures have access to medicated livestock and that there are quantifiable levels of livestock antibiotics in vulture plasma. However, the vultures analyzed in this study had maximum antibiotic concentrations of only 0.4μg/mL, much less than the concentrations used in the clinical treatment of scavengers and a level that is probably too small to cause intoxication.
authors.affiliation: Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS) - Wildlife Health Research Group, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: Encarna.Casas@uab.cat.
authors.forename: Encarna
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Casas-Díaz
authors.affiliation: Servei d'Anàlisi de Fàrmacs (Drug Analysis Service), Departament de Farmacologia, Terapèutica i Toxicologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: Carles.Cristofol@uab.cat.
authors.forename: Carles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cristòfol
authors.affiliation: Servei d'Hematologia Clínica Veterinària (SHCV) - Veterinary Clinical Hematology Service, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: Rafaela.Cuenca@uab.es.
authors.forename: Rafaela
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cuenca
authors.affiliation: Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS) - Wildlife Health Research Group, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: ssusanaa77@yahoo.es.
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Agustí
authors.affiliation: Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Vila Real, Portugal; Department of Veterinary Sciences, School of Agrarian and Veterinary Sciences (ECAV), University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Vila Real, Portugal. Electronic address: manuandreia@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carneiro
authors.affiliation: Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS) - Wildlife Health Research Group, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: Ignasi.Marco@uab.cat.
authors.forename: Ignasi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Marco
authors.affiliation: Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS) - Wildlife Health Research Group, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: Santiago.Lavin@uab.cat.
authors.forename: Santiago
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lavín
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science (Division of Wildlife), Faculty of Life Sciences and Engineering, University of Lleida, 25003 Lleida, Spain; Division of Conservation Biology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution. University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: antoni.margalida@iee.unibe.ch.
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Margalida
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000097:blood*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood*; D046093:Falconiformes / Q000097:blood*; D024841:Fluoroquinolones / Q000097:blood*; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D024841:Fluoroquinolones
keywords: Ciprofloxacin; Enrofloxacin; Eurasian griffon vulture; Supplementary feeding; Toxicity