Abstract
The importance of wild bird populations as a reservoir of zoonotic pathogens is well established. Salmonellosis is a frequently diagnosed infectious cause of mortality of garden birds in England and Wales, predominantly caused by Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhimurium definitive phage types 40, 56(v) and 160. In Britain, these phage types are considered highly host-adapted with a high degree of genetic similarity amongst isolates, and in some instances are clonal. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis, however, demonstrated minimal variation amongst matched DT40 and DT56(v) isolates derived from passerine and human incidents of salmonellosis across England in 2000–2007. Also, during the period 1993–2012, similar temporal and spatial trends of infection with these S. Typhimurium phage types occurred in both the British garden bird and human populations; 1.6% of all S. Typhimurium (0.2% of all Salmonella) isolates from humans in England and Wales over the period 2000–2010. These findings support the hypothesis that garden birds act as the primary reservoir of infection for these zoonotic bacteria. Most passerine salmonellosis outbreaks identified occurred at and around feeding stations, which are likely sites of public exposure to sick or dead garden birds and their faeces. We, therefore, advise the public to practise routine personal hygiene measures when feeding wild birds and especially when handling sick wild birds.
Highlights
Post-mortem examination data were not available for review from the AHVLA incidents; as with the IoZ dataset, the vast majority of garden bird mortality incidents associated with these phage types was considered due to salmonellosis
Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis demonstrated a high degree of genetic similarity within and between S
Typhimurium strains are host-adapted and that wild bird populations are the likely reservoir of these bacteria
Summary
Typhimurium) [1] is the bacterium responsible for passerine salmonellosis and this disease has been documented internationally as a cause of wild bird mortality since the 1950s, principally at garden bird feeding stations [2,3,4]. Typhimurium is one of the commonest Salmonella serovars isolated from humans and from common garden birds such as greenfinches. Chloris chloris and house sparrows Passer domesticus. These species are most frequently affected by salmonellosis, other gregarious and granivorous species (e.g. bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula, chaffinch Fringilla coelebs, goldfinch Carduelis carduelis and siskin Carduelis spinus) are susceptible [7,8]. The role of wild birds as reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens is an important research topic [9] as the likelihood of human contact with wild birds and their faeces is increasing with the large-scale provisioning of supplementary food for birds in private gardens [10] that has increased markedly over the last two decades
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