The Study

• Main Authors: Roméo Rocha Simões, Laurent Poirel, Paulo Martins, Da Costa, Patrice Nordmann
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2007
• Subjects: The Beaches; Lesser black-backed gull
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.306.6348; http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/16/1/pdfs/09-0896.pdf

A variety of extended-spectrum β-lactamase–producing Escherichia coli isolates, with a high rate of cefotaximase-15 resistance, were identifi ed in seagull feces from Porto, Portugal, beaches. Beaches may therefore present a risk to public health because of the potential pathogen-spreading capacity of migratory birds. The Porto coastline in Portugal, including downtown Porto, has a large seagull population (Larus fuscus, the lesser black-backed gull, and L. cachinnans, the yellow-legged gull). Seagulls have been reported as a possible reservoir for multidrug-resistant bacteria (1). During the past decade, extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL) with growing epidemiologic importance, the cefotaximase (CTX-M) enzymes, have been reported worldwide in Enterobacteriaceae from humans (2); they are found mostly in Escherichia coli. Reasons for the emergence of CTX-M enzymes in human isolates remain unknown. In addition, CTX-M–positive E. coli have been identified in poultry (3), other farm animals (4), and wild animals (birds of prey, foxes [5]). E. coli strains can be classified into 4 phylogenetic groups (A, B1, B2, and D). The virulent extraintestinal isolates belong mostly to group B2 and, to a lesser extent, group D, whereas most commensal strains belong to groups A and B1. The objective of the study was to evaluate the spread and types of ESBL-positive E. coli in feces recovered from wild birds on the beaches of Porto.