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The emergence of bacterial resistance to antibiotic use in veterinary practice is considered a source of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections for humans. Although increasing incidence of antimicrobial resistance in small-animal practices has already been noted, limited information is available about the problem in domestic canaries (Serinus canaria domestica). This cross-sectional study describes the prevalence of Gram-negative bacteria among canaries exhibiting clinical disease signs and the antimicrobial sensitivity patterns of the bacterial isolates. During the breeding season, a bacteriological survey was carried out in 50 amateur breeding aviaries from the Messina Province (Sicily, South of Italy) to detect the prevalence of Gram-negative bacteria in sick birds. Fecal samples from breeder canaries were submitted for bacteriological examination. Of 50 breeding aviaries, 43 (86%) were positive for Gram-negative bacteria. Overall, 88 bacterial isolates, representing 12 genera of bacteria, were cultured. The most frequently recovered bacterial species was Escherichia coli (31/88 isolates, 35.2%). Other frequently isolated species were Enterobacter cloacae (9/88 isolates, 10.2%) and Proteus mirabilis (6/88 isolates, 6.8%). Potentially pathogenic species, including Salmonella Typhimurium (n = 5 strains), Enterobacter sakazakii (n = 4 strains), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 6 strains), were also identified. The 88 isolates displayed significant frequencies of antibiotic resistance. These results confirm the potential presence of multidrug-resistant bacteria in canary facilities, suggesting that measures to educate the public about this risk are necessary.

Objective To describe the bacterial flora present in the normal conjunctiva of donkeys from Sicily (Italy). Animals studied A total of 46 healthy donkeys housed in 3 locations within the territory of Palermo (Sicily, Italy) were studied. Donkeys ranged from 2 to 13 years of age, with a median age of 6 years. Procedures Forty-six conjunctival swabs were obtained from both eyes of each animal, and specimens were cultured for aerobic bacteria. Furthermore, the antimicrobial activity of methicillin (1 μg) and oxacillin (5 μg) on Staphylococcus spp. isolates was evaluated, and a specific PCR assay, which allows the detection of mecA gene specific for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains, was performed. Results Forty of 46 (86.9%) donkeys were positive for bacteria. Eighty bacterial isolates, representing 9 bacteria genera, were successfully cultured. The most frequently recovered bacterial genus was Staphylococcus (52/80 isolates; 65%). Several strains (20/80 isolates; 25%) belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family were also isolated, among which the most frequently isolated genus was Enterobacter (eight isolates). Of the 52 Staphylococcus spp. isolates, 14 (26.9%) strains were oxacillin/methicillin resistant. The mecA gene was detected in 6/52 (11.5%) strains. Conclusions This study contributes to the knowledge about normal ocular flora and MRSA occurrence in donkey farms in Sicily.

Previous studies on fish and marine mammals support the hypothesis that marine species harbor antibiotic resistance and therefore may serve as reservoirs for anti biotic-resistance genetic determinants. The aim of this study was to assess the resistance to antimicrobial agents of Gram negative strains isolated from loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta). Oral and cloacal swabs from 19 live-stranded loggerhead sea turtles, with hooks fixed into the gut, were analyzed. The antimicrobial resistance of the isolates to 31 antibiotics was assessed using the disk-diffusion method. Conventional biochemical tests identified Citrobacter spp., Proteus spp., Enterobacter spp., Escherichia spp., Providencia spp., Morganella spp., Pantoea spp., Pseudomonas spp. and Shewanella spp. Highest prevalences of resistance was detected to carbenicillin (100%), cephalothin (92.6%), oxytetracycline (81.3%) and amoxicillin (77.8%). The isolates showing resistance to the widest range of antibiotics were identified as Citrobacter freundii, Proteus vulgaris, Providencia rettgeri and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In this study, antibiotic resistant bacteria reflect marine contamination by polluted effluents and C. caretta is considered a bioindicator which can be used as a monitor for pollution.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa represents an opportunistic pathogen for animals and humans that is often associated with high disease morbidity and, at times, mortality. Captive reptiles have been shown to be reservoirs of P. aeruginosa strains that can be sources of exposure to humans that come in contact with these animals. In this study, the prevalence of P. aeruginosa among subclinical captive reptile species and the antimicrobial sensitivity of bacterial isolates were investigated. Sixty-five oral swabs were collected from captive reptiles belonging to 15 different species in which no overt signs of disease were evident. From this group of animals, 46 (70.8%) isolates were identified as P. aeruginosa . All of the P. aeruginosa strains were shown to have a wide range of antibiotic resistance. At present, there is a paucity of data regarding the prevalence of P. aeruginosa in various reptile species; therefore, continued scientific investigations are indicated to determine the significance of P. aeruginosa infection as it relates to captive reptile species.

Keywords: carrier, demersal fish, piscine nodavirus,RT-PCR, Tyrrhenian Sea.Betanodavirus infection has been reported to causediseases in a wide variety of marine fish species inaquaculture worldwide, and it is responsible ofsevere economic losses (Gagne et al. 2004; Walker& Winton 2010). Fish nodaviruses more com-monly cause disease and mortality of up to 100%in larval and juvenile stages, although adults canalso be affected (Munday & Nakai 1997; Gagneet al. 2004). Fish surviving infection can becomeasymptomatic carriers. Disease is characterized byabnormal swimming behaviours associated withvacuolar lesions in the nervous tissues containingviral particles. Clinical signs should be ascribed toone single disease, officially identified as viralencephalopathy and retinopathy (VER) also knownas viral nervous necrosis (VNN).The disease, present in the Mediterranean basin,affects farmed species such as European seabass,Dicentrarchus labrax L., and shi drum, Umbrinacirrosa L., but also wild species such as duskygrouper, Epinephelus marginatus (Lowe), and whitegrouper, Epinephelus aeneus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire) (Maltese & Bovo 2007). Nodavirus hasbeen identified in some wild apparently healthy fishbelonging to the following species: garfish, Belonebelone (L.), bogue, Boops boops (L.), thinlip greymullet, Liza ramada (Risso), whiting, Merlangiusmerlangus (L.), European hake, Merluccius merluc-cius (L.), flathead grey mullet, Mugil cephalus L.,red mullet, Mullus barbatus barbatus (L.), commonpandora, Pagellus erythrinus (L.), axillary seabream,Pagellus acarne (Risso), black goby, Gobius niger L.,European pilchard, Sardina pilchardus (Walbaum),gilthead seabream, Sparus aurata L., tub gurnard,Chelidonichthys lucerna (L.), and poor cod, Trisopte-rus minutus (L.), (Castric et al. 2001; Maltese et al.2005; Ciulli et al. 2006; Grodzki, Galletti & Ciulli2006).This study was aimed at determining the occur-rence of viral encephalopathy and retinopathy virus(VERV) in selected stocks of demersal fish species.Sampling: The study area is situated betweenCapo Suvero (the Calabrian coast) and Capo SanVito (the North-Western Sicilian coast) in theSouthernmost part of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Sam-plings were carried out during a summer trawl sur-vey and were performed with a commercial vesselequipped with an ad hoc designed net, with20 mm of stretched mesh size (Fiorentini et al.1999). A stratified random sampling method wasadopted (Relini 1998; Bertrand et al. 2002). Atotal of 23 hauls were carried out randomly allo-cated into five depth strata: A: 10–50 m(622 km

Several studies have shown that migratory birds play an important role in the ecology, circulation and dissemination of pathogenic organisms. In October 2006, a health status evaluation was performed on a large population of migratory birds passing through the territory of Ustica (Italy), an island located on the migration route of many species of birds to Africa, and various laboratory tests were conducted. In total, 218 faecal swabs and the internal organs of 21 subjects found dead in nets were collected for bacteriological and virological examination, including avian influenza and Newcastle disease. In addition, 19 pooled fresh faecal samples were collected for mycological examination. The bacteriological analysis produced 183 strains belonging to 28 different species of the Enterobacteriaceae family. In particular, Salmonella bongori, Yersinia enterocolitica and Klebsiella pneumonia strains were isolated. Almost all of the isolates were susceptible to sulphamethoxazole/trimethoprime (99.4%), cefotaxime (98.9%), nalidixic acid (96.7%), chloramphenicol (95.6%), and tetracycline (93.4%). Alternatively, many strains were resistant to ampicillin (42.6%), amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (42.6%), and streptomycin (43.7%). According to reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis, all of the samples were negative for the M gene of avian influenza virus. Moreover, isolation tests conducted on specific pathogen free eggs were negative for avian influenza and Newcastle disease. Several hyphomycetes and yeasts belonging to different genera were present in the specimens, and Cryptococcus neoformans was observed in a pooled faecal sample. Antibiotic resistance in wildlife can be monitored to evaluate the impact of anthropic pressure. Furthermore, migratory birds are potential reservoirs of pathogenic agents; thus, they can be regarded as sentinel species and used as environmental health indicators.

Suggested citation for this article: Foti M, Daidone A, Aleo A, Pizzimenti A, Giacopello C, Mammina C. Salmonella bongori 48:z35:– in migratory birds, Italy. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2009 Mar [date cited]. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/15/3/502.htm