PREVALENCE OF SALMONELLA SPP., CAMPYLOBACTER SPP. AND LISTERIA SPP. IN RING-BILLED GULLS (LARUS DELAWARENSIS) Author(s): Sylvain Quessy and Serge Messier Source: Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 28(4):526-531. Published By: Wildlife Disease Association URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.7589/0090-3558-28.4.526

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Journal

of Wildlife

Diseases, © Wildlife

PREVALENCE SPP.

LISTERIA Sylvain 1

Quessy

SPP.,

IN RING-BILLED

and Serge

CAMPYLOBACTER

GULLS

(LARUS

1992, pp. 526-531 Association 1992

SPP.

AND

DELAWARENSIS)

Messier2

Facult#{233}de m#{233}decine v#{233}t#{233}rinaire, Universit#{233} de Montr#{233}al, 3200 rue Sicotte,

St-Hyacinthe, 2

OF SALMONELLA

28(4), Disease

Qu#{233}bec, Canada,

Laboratoire

J2S

7C6

d’hygi#{232}nev#{233}t#{233}rinaire et alimentaire,

3400 boulevard

Casavant

ouest,

St-Hyacinthe,

Agriculture

Canada,

Qu#{233}bec,Canada,

J2S 8E3

Cloacal swabs collected from 264 ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) at four sites near Montr#{233}al, Canada were cultured for the presence of Salmonella spp., Camp ylobacter spp. and Listeria spp. All birds were apparently healthy when captured or killed. Of all birds examined, 8.7%, 15.9% and 9.5%, respectively, were infected with Salmonella spp., Camp ylobacter spp. and Listeria monocytogenes. Overall, 29.9% of gulls sampled harbored one or more of these bacteria. Gulls probably play only a minor role in the epizootiology of these bacteria. Key words: Salmonella spp., Camp ylobacter spp., Listerla monocytogenes, gulls, Laridae. ABSTRACT:

those

INTRODUCTION

Intestinal

carriage

of

Salmonella

spp.,

Cam pylobacter spp. and Listeria spp. by gulls is well recognized (Fenlon, 1985; Girdwood et a!., 1985; Whelan et al., 1988). Most studies have been done in Europe and Japan on herring tat us) black-headed

gulls (Larus gulls (Larus

,

dus)

and

common

Qu#{233}bec and of ring-billed have

gulls

Ontario, gulls

increased

(Larus

Canada, (Larus

during

1984). An in public and Tessier,

Girdwood gulls were not epidemiology cause of the recovered in

a!.

suggested roosting hazard.

that

and

land. Gulls bovine and et al., 1977; al.,

recent

increase in the sites has been 1986).

(1985) suggested an important factor in of human salmonellosis low number of Salmonella gull feces. However, a

large

number

of

the

source in 3 of

animal

of 26

salmonellosis

in

To evaluate ecology

of

Whelan

et a!. (1988)

found

by cloacal spp.

that

with

(1985)

isolated

with any defects may remain

estimate

fecal

the role of these

L.

on the

monocyto-

and suggested that for some pasture Listeria

sp.;

in the silage contaminated. carriage

of ring-billed bacteria, we

rates

and

if

process, and

to

gulls in the determined

the prevalence of these three genera of bacteria in feces of ring-billed gulls at four sites. We also determined whether preyalences of these bacteria varied with the type of land use.

Scot-

64%

water

spp. depended in part of carrier animals in

from gulls’ feces may be responsible

there are the silage

gulls

hazlarge place. et a!. car-

contamination

of surface

contamination

in et

1983).

the gulls sampled ried Campylobacter

human

degree

genes gulls

they

may play a significant role ovine salmonellosis (Williams Coulson et a!., 1983; Sharp

important

spp. between difCarter et a!. (1987) of Cam pylobacter and stated that the

environment. Fenlon

that the be-

environmental occurrences

an

riage of Campylobacter ferent species of gull. studied the occurrence spp. in surface waters Cam pylobacter the prevalence

in one site may represent a health Reilly et a!. (1981) concluded that

gulls were contamination human

et

In

populations delawarensis)

considerably

years (Mousseau, number of birds noted (Blokpoel

C. jejuni,

but the most common serotypes in gulls were not common in hu-

mans. They concluded that a health ard to humans is possible only when numbers of gulls roost in a common Fenlon et a!. (1982) and Kaneuchi (1987) found differences in intestinal

argenridibuncanus).

were

pathogen, present

of

MATERIALS

swabbing carAbout 30% of

AND METHODS

Fecal material from the cloaca ently healthy gulls was collected

526

of 264 apparwith swabs

OUESSY

(Culturette, Systems,

Becton

AND MESSIER-SALMONELLA,

Dickinson

Cockeysvi!Ie,

Microbiology

Maryland,

USA)

with Salmonella Laboratories)

near

Montr#{233}al,Qu#{233}bec,Canada. Site 1 (Ile de la Couv#{233}e) was an embankment island, erected during construction of the St-Lawrence seaway, 1 km in length and 15 m in width in its northern extremity

the

and

110

m

in width

St-Lawrence River located 2 km south

was is near

an urban

setting

in the

south

in

of Montr#{233}alclose

73#{176}05’W). The

shores

emergent vegetation. One hundred and

collected, box with

Chemical

by short-

lined

sixty-two

in

town primarily

birds

the swabs were icepacks. Swabs

iodide

with 0.2 ml of potassium (6 g iodine crystals and in 20

ml

distilled

water),

Company),

metabisulfite entific Limited,

m

width,

live-

kept in a for Cam-

iodine solution 5 g potassium and

incubated

for 18 hr at 43 C. Samples were streaked on a brilliant green sulfadiazine agar (Difco Laboratories) and incubated at 37 C for 24 hr. Suspect colonies were inoculated into a triple-sugar-iron (TSI) (Difco Laboratories) agar slant and streaked on an urea agar slant (Difco Laboratories). A slide-agglutination test (Tinghitella and Edberg, 1991) was done on each suspect isolate using a Salmonella polyvalent 0 antiserum (Bacto Salmonella 0 antiserum poly A to I and Vi, Difco Laboratories). Biochemical identification was done with an automated system (Vitek Systems, Hazelwood, Missouri, USA). Confirmed Salmonella were serotyped by slide-agglutination

527

(Difco of the

vancomycin

Company, (5 g/ml)

polymyxin

St. Lou(Sigma

B sulfate

(2.5

Chemical Company) and a 10% each of ferrous sulfate, sodium and sodium pyruvate (Fisher Montr#{233}al, Qu#{233}bec, Canada).

SciThe

tubes of Rosef’s enrichment broth were incubated at 43 C under microaerophilic conditions (85% nitrogen, 10% carbon dioxide, 5% oxygen). Mueller-Hinton agar plates (Oxoid Canada, Inc.) supplemented with 10% citrated bovine blood and vancomycin (10 g/ml), trimetroprim (5

(46#{176}02’N, g/ml) with were

were

antisera section

with

Chemical

trimetroprim

800

east of Montr#{233}al island was covand trees. Site 3

to a small were

(Sigma

IU/ml) (Sigma concentration

pylobacter spp. isolation were stored in an anaerobic jar (Oxoid Canada Inc., Nepean, Ontario, Canada) and kept under microaerobic conditions by means of a gas generator envelope (CampyPack, Becton Dickinson Microbiology Systems). Samples were returned to the laboratory and put in their respective enrichment broths