Bacterial prevalence in the Dunnock (Prunella modularis) in sub-alpine habitats of the Western Carpathians, Slovak Republic

Abstract

Birds may be important vectors of bacterial infections. The prevalence of some bacterial species in the digestive tract of the Dunnock (Prunella modularis), the numerically dominant avian species of sub-alpine habitats of the Western Carpathians, Slovak Republic, was studied. Species of bacteria were detected in pharyngeal and cloacal swabs obtained from 97 individuals using PCR assay. Seven Yersinia species were found in the samples, with the highest prevalence of Y. enterocolitica (34.0% of individuals). Three other genera of the family Enterobacteriaceae were detected in the samples: Serratia spp. (26.8%), Erwinia spp. (15.5%) and Pantoea spp. (45.4%). Erwinia spp. showed a significantly higher prevalence in the pharynx than in the cloaca. Three non-Enterobacteriaceae species were detected using species-specific primers: Pseudomonas fluorescens (39.2%), Pseudomonas fragi (28.9%) and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (13.4%). Generally, bacterial contamination of birds was higher in April than in May-July. Pseudomonas fluorescens showed statistically significant differences between months and between adults and juveniles, while the occurrence of other types of bacteria was marginally lower in juveniles than in adults. The bacterial incidence and richness were similar between males and females.