title: Antimicrobial Resistance of Salmonella Serovars and Campylobacter spp. Isolated from an Opportunistic Gull Species, Yellow-legged Gull ( Larus michahellis ).
abstract: Wildlife is a natural reservoir of Salmonella and Campylobacter, the most important human foodborne pathogens worldwide. Free-living birds have the potential to transport, over large distances, such zoonotic bacteria that may harbor antimicrobial resistance traits. On the northeastern Iberian coast, we assessed the role of Yellow-legged Gulls ( Larus michahellis ) as reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance in Salmonella and thermophilic Campylobacter isolates recovered from gulls at three colonies, with varying degrees of dependence on refuse dumps as food sources. Of the 39 Salmonella isolates we tested, 17 were multiresistant (resistance to three antimicrobial families), with eight being Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. Other clinically relevant Salmonella serovars showing multiresistance included Hadar, Bredeney, and Virchow. Relevant Campylobacter antimicrobial resistances were detected among three Campylobacter jejuni isolates, of which all three showed resistance to nalidixic acid, two were resistant to ciprofloxacin, one was resistant to enrofloxacin, and one was resistant to tetracycline. Our results highlight the importance of free-living gulls with opportunistic feeding habits in the dissemination of enteric pathogens resistant to multiple antimicrobial agents of public health concern.
authors.affiliation: 1 Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries - Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA, IRTA-UAB), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193-Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain.
authors.forename: Lourdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Migura-Garcia
authors.affiliation: 2 Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat and Departament de Biologia Animal, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 643, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
authors.forename: Raül
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.affiliation: 1 Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries - Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA, IRTA-UAB), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193-Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain.|3 Corresponding author (email: marta.cerda@irta.cat ).
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cerdà-Cuéllar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002167:Campylobacter / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D046091:Charadriiformes / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D004032:Diet; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D012475:Salmonella; D065288:Serogroup
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: Antimicrobial resistance; Campylobacter; Salmonella; gulls