Wild Birds as Drivers of Salmonella Braenderup and Multidrug Resistant Bacteria in Wetlands of Northern Italy

Abstract

In this study, the antimicrobial resistance profiles of bacterial strains obtained from wild avian species recovered in wetlands of Northern Italy were described. Cloacal swabs collected from 67 aquatic birds, hunted or found dead in two private hunting grounds, were submitted to microbiological investigations and antimicrobial susceptibility testing using the Vitek 2 system, while specific PCR protocols were applied to screen for genes associated with the resistance. One hundred fifty-seven bacterial strains were characterized. The most frequent isolates were Enterococcus faecalis (36/157; 22.9%) and Escherichia coli (23/157; 14.6%). Seventy-seven isolates (77/157; 49%) were resulted resistant to at least one antibiotic, and eight isolates (8/157; 5%) were classified as multidrug resistant bacteria. Resistance for critically important antibiotics (linezolid, vancomycin, carbapenems, third-generation cephalosporins, and fluoroquinolones) was also described. Salmonella spp. was obtained from a Eurasian teal (Anas crecca), and it was subsequently analyzed by whole genome sequencing, revealing the serovar Salmonella Braenderup ST22. The phylogenetic analysis, performed with all ST22 described in 2021 and 2022, placed the strain under study in a large clade associated with human salmonellosis cases. These results suggest that migratory aquatic birds may be considered as relevant carriers of critically important antibiotic resistant bacteria and zoonotic food-borne pathogens potentially able to impact public health.