Abstract
Wild animals have an ecological function and can serve as sentinels to identify infectious agents and as indicators of environmental health. Among the zoonotic pathogens, Salmonella spp. deserve special attention due to their high worldwide prevalence and their ubiquity of hosts. With the aim of investigating the presence of Salmonella spp. in wild birds from the Atlantic Forest in southern Bahia, Brazil, we collected 114 fecal samples of wild birds (14 families) between 2016 and 2017. Fecal samples were collected by means of cloacal swab and subjected to microbiological culture to isolate and serotype Salmonella spp. specifically. Antibiotic susceptibility was determined using the disk diffusion test protocol. Only one bird, Ceratopipra rubrocapilla, tested positive for Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serotype Agona, which is the first record for this bird species. This isolate exhibited intermediate sensitivity to amikacin and gentamicin and sensitivity to the other 13 antibiotics tested. Results may indicate environmental preservation since the studied areas had minimal human activity and good sanitary quality. Despite the low prevalence, it is necessary to monitor wildlife and establish disease control and surveillance systems, especially for zoonotic diseases.
Highlights
The Atlantic Forest is the second largest forest in South America
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) confirmed only one positive sample for Salmonella spp., in a bird of the species Ceratopipra rubrocapila (Figure 2). This specimen was an adult female found in the Cabruca system of the University of Santa Cruz (UESC) site (P2). This isolate was identified as Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serotype Agona
Our study showed a low prevalence of Salmonella spp. in wild birds caught in the forest in southern Bahia, probably because they are individuals from areas of fragments of native Atlantic Forest, with little human activity
Summary
The Atlantic Forest is the second largest forest in South America. Despite its extremely high levels of endemism (up to 40% for plants and 60% for amphibians), this biodiversity hotspot is the most endangered biome of Brazil, as only 8% of its original area remains. The Brazilian population has been historically concentrated along the Southeastern coast, which resulted in more than 60% of the country’s population (more than 100 million inhabitants) occupying the areas originally covered by the forest. This proximity to the effervescent development of the country’s major capitals of the country leads to the extended cycles of land exploitation for the intensive production of commodity exports, wood, sugarcane, and coffee. The expansion of urban limits and country houses, illegal logging, subsidized soybean plantation, pine and eucalyptus production, palm heart extraction, wildlife poaching, and hydroelectric dams were additional factors that lead to the profound transformation of this landscape. The unprofitable areas of mountain ranges, marshes, and mangroves were the only areas spared from the devastation, alongside with a few small protected areas [1,2,3]
Published Version (Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have