Plagues, Pestilences and Diseases
UK: migratory birds accused of spreading superbug diseases'
By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News
Gull The birds are opportunistic feeders
Scientists fear migratory birds may be spreading hard-to-treat
infections after discovering seagulls can carry antibiotic-resistant
bacteria.
Portuguese researchers analysed 57 samples of droppings from the
yellow-legged Caspian Gull Larus Cachinnans.
They found that one in 10 harboured bacteria resistant to a common
antibiotic called vancomycin.
They told Proteome Science journal the birds probably pick up the
infection from eating scraps in human garbage.
The white and grey gulls can often be seen flocking on rubbish tips,
and are common in many southern parts of the UK.
The researchers have found similar antibiotic-resistant bacteria in
other scavenger animals like wild foxes and wolves.
Fowl finding
For their study, the scientists collected and analysed bird dropping
samples from an island off the Portuguese coast.
Lead scientist Gilberto Igrejas, of the University of Tras-os-Montes
and Alto Douro, explained: "We used a novel technique called proteomics
to detect the maximum number of bacterial proteins which are thought to
be connected in some, as yet unknown, way to antibiotic resistance."
His team identified several strains of enterococcus bacteria in the
samples - some of which were resistant to vancomycin.
Given that these are wild birds and not pets, they will not have
encountered these antibiotics directly.
Instead, their exposure has come inadvertently from humans.
And the scientists believe wild migratory birds may be spreading
antibiotic resistance from place to place, and to other animals and
humans through their droppings.
Dr Igrejas said: "Migrating birds that fly and travel long distances
can act as transporters, or as reservoirs, of antibiotic-resistant
bacteria and may consequently have a significant epidemiological role
in the dissemination of resistance."
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are generally harmless to healthy people
but can cause serious infections in the weak and vulnerable. There are
usually other antibiotics that can be used to treat the infection.
The concern is that they could pass on their resistance to bacteria
that can evade other antibiotics, ultimately leading to infections that
would be incredibly difficult to treat.
The UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it
would study the findings "with interest".