Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance of and in Wild Birds from a Wildlife Rescue Centre.

Climate change, excessive exploitation of agricultural land which reduces natural habitats, wildlife shooting, and the use of pesticides all cause difficulties for wildlife, with considerable numbers of animals being brought to wildlife rescue centres. Although the efforts of staff involved in wildlife management at these centres usually focus on therapeutic treatments to reintroduce them into the wild, the monitoring of pathogens that may be transmitted to humans is of relevance. () and are frequently carried by animals without inducing clinical signs and are responsible for enteric disorders and more rarely extra-intestinal disease in humans. Farm species and poultry, in particular, are the main reservoirs of and , but wild animals may also be carriers. The aim of this paper was to investigate the presence of and in wild birds housed at a wildlife rescue centre and to evaluate the sensitivity of the detected strains to antibiotics. was found in 52 out of 209 (24.88%) birds from 33 different species. was more prevalent, while was only detected in three Long-eared Owls (). The incidence of the infection was particularly high (72.22%) among omnivorous species. Infection rates were higher in birds housed indoors (57.14%) than outdoors (31.74%). Moreover, was not detected in species whose mean temperature body is below 40 °C or higher than 42.2 °C. The most common antibiotic resistance in the tested strains was against trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin. In addition, multi-drug resistance was also found. The results highlight the need to increase biosecurity measures at rescue centres so as to reduce health-related risks to workers involved in wildlife management.