title: Wild birds and urban pigeons as reservoirs for diarrheagenic Escherichia coli with zoonotic potential.
abstract: In order to describe the role of wild birds and pigeons in the transmission of shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) to humans and other animals, samples were collected from cloacae and oropharynx of free-living wild birds and free-living pigeons. Two STEC (0.8%) and five EPEC strains (2.0%) were isolated from wild birds and four EPEC strains (2.0%) were recovered from pigeons. Serogroups, sequence types (STs) and virulence genes, such as saa, iha, lpfAO113, ehxA, espA, nleB and nleE, detected in this study had already been implicated in human and animal diseases. Multidrug resistance (MDR) was found in 25.0% of the pigeon strains and in 57.0% of the wild bird strains; the wild birds also yielded one isolate carrying extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) gene blaCTX-M-8. The high variability shown by PFGE demonstrates that there are no prevalent E. coli clones from these avian hosts. Wild birds and pigeons could act as carriers of multidrug-resistant STEC and EPEC and therefore may constitute a considerable hazard to human and animal health by transmission of these strains to the environment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Jaboticabal, São Paulo, 14884900, Brazil. clarissa.araujob@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Clarissa A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Borges
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Jaboticabal, São Paulo, 14884900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marita V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Cardozo
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Jaboticabal, São Paulo, 14884900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Livia G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Beraldo
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Jaboticabal, São Paulo, 14884900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Elisabete S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Evolution and Bioagents, Institute of Biology, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo, 13083872, Brazil.
authors.forename: Renato P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Maluta
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Jaboticabal, São Paulo, 14884900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Kaline B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Barboza
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Jaboticabal, São Paulo, 14884900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Werther
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Jaboticabal, São Paulo, 14884900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernando A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Ávila
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000382:microbiology*; D001717:Birds / Q000382:microbiology*; D002988:Cloaca / Q000382:microbiology; D010856:Columbidae / Q000382:microbiology*; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000382:microbiology*; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D054308:Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D009960:Oropharynx / Q000382:microbiology; D012703:Serotyping; D054323:Shiga-Toxigenic Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics; D015047:Zoonoses; D001618:beta-Lactamases / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C102051:EspA protein, E coli; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; C036507:Hlya protein, E coli; C553814:NleB protein, E coli; D037521:Virulence Factors; D001618:beta-Lactamases
keywords: EPEC; STEC; antibiotic resistance; virulence genes; zoonotic pathogens