محمد رفیعی دولت آبادی

Cage birds like canaries can potentially harbor human pathogens and contribute to transmission and spread of drug resistant infectious agents to human. Considering many people's interests to keep canaries, present study was conducted in canaries from Yazd to investigate the beta-lactam antibiotics resistant Escherichia coli. 109 E. coli isolates from canary faeces in Yazd were evaluated to investigate the resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics by disc diffusion method. Resistance of isolates to Imipenem, Cefotaxime, Cefixime, Cefalexin, Amoxicillin, Penicillin G and Oxacillin was 0%, 5.5%, 44%, 95.4%, 95.4%, 100% and 100% respectively. Canaries harbored beta-lactam antibiotics resistant E. coli and could be an important component of drug-resistant infections transmission from cage birds to human, especially kids and can pose a potential risk to human health in the region. It is recommended to make pet birds owners and general public aware of potential dangers of cage birds keeping.

Cage birds can harbor human pathogens and contribute to the transmission and spread of drug resistant infectious agents to human. Since many people are interested in keeping cage birds, present study was conducted in cage birds from Shahrekord to investigate the beta-lactam antibiotics resistant E. coli and molecular detection of E. coli O157:H7 that is responsible for outbreaks of human intestinal diseases and fatal haemolytic-uraemic syndrome worldwide. Altogether 256 samples of cage birds (lovebirds, quails, nightingales, parrots, mynahs, goldfinchs, finches, kingbirds, peacocks, and pheasants) faeces were collected with sterile cotton swabs from different areas of Shahrekord, Iran. Swabs were placed directly into Tryptone Soya Broth (TSB). In the laboratory, samples were streaked onto MacConkey agar and also Sorbitol MacConkey agar as selective plating media. Then, antibiogram tests were performed using disc diffusion method. Suspected colonies to E. coli O157: H7 were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). E. coli was isolated from 31 (12.1%) out of 256 the samples. Resistance of isolates to Imipenem, Cefotaxime, Cefixime, Cefalexin, Amoxicillin, Penicillin G and Oxacillin was 0, 3.2, 16.1, 90.3, 100, 100 and 100% respectively. E. coli O157:H7 was not found in any samples. Discussion and Although cage birds were not sourcee or carriers of E. coli O157:H7 in the studied region, they harbored beta-lactam antibiotics resistant E. coli and could be an important component of drug-resistant infections transmission from cage-birds to human, especially to kids and can pose a potential risk to human health. For this reason, it is recommended to make pet birds owners and general public aware of potential dangers of cage bird keeping.

Zoonoses can be transmitted to people by many birds such as pigeons. Considering many people’s interests to keep pigeons، present study was conducted to PCR detection of Aeromonas hydrophila that is cause of many human infections such as gastroenteritis، wound infections and septicemia from pigeons in Shahrekord. Altogether 293 samples of pigeon faeces were collected with sterile cotton swabs from different areas of Shahrekord، Iran. Swabs were placed directly into alkaline peptone water. The enrichment cultures were then streaked on the glutamate starch phenol red agar (GSP agar). Isolates were subjected to different biochemical tests. Suspected colonies to A. hydrophila were tested by PCR. Antibiogram tests were performed using disc diffusion method. A. hydrophila was isolated from 13 (4. 44%) of 293 the samples. Resistance of isolates to Cefotaxime، Ciprofloxacin، Ampicillin، Co-trimoxazole، Trimetoprim، Chloramphenicol and Tetracycline was 0%، 61. 5%، 69. 2%، 84. 6%، 92. 3%، 100% and 100% respectively. Pigeons harbored antibiotics resistant A. hydrophila and could be an important component of drug-resistant A. hydrophila transmission from pigeons to human، especially kids and can pose a risk to human health in the region. Considering of what mentioned it is recommended to make pigeons owners and general public aware of potential dangers of pigeon ownership.

Pigeons can be carriers of some human pathogens and contribute to transmission and spread of drug resistant infectious agents to human. Considering many people’s interests to keep pigeons، present study was conducted to PCR detection of Escherichia coli O157: H7 that is responsible for outbreaks of human intestinal diseases and fatal haemolytic-uraemic syndrome worldwide and evaluation of resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics in Escherichia coli isolated from pigeons in Shahrekord. Altogether 180 samples of pigeon faeces were collected with sterile cotton swabs from different areas of Shahrekord، Iran. Swabs were placed directly into Tryptone Soya Broth (TSB). In the laboratory samples were streaked onto MacConkey agar and Cefixime Tellurite Sorbitol MacConkey agar as selective plating media. Antibiogram tests were then performed using disc diffusion method. Suspected colonies to E. coli O157: H7 were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). E. coli was isolated from 93 (51. 7%) of 180 the samples. Resistance of isolates to Cefotaxime، Imipenem، Cefixime، Amoxicillin، Cefalexin، Penicillin G and Oxacillin was 1. 1%، 3. 2%، 8. 6%، 22. 6%، 40. 9%، 90. 3% and 96. 7% respectively. E. coli O157: H7 was not found in any samples. Although pigeons were not sources or carriers of E. coli O157: H7 in the region، they harbored beta-lactam antibiotics resistant E. coli and could be an important component of drug-resistant infections transmission from pigeons to human، especially kids and can pose a risk to human health. Considering of what mentioned it is recommended to make pigeons owners and general public aware of potential dangers of pigeons keeping.

Pet birds can harbor diseases that can be transmitted to their owners. Although pet ownership is not without risks, many of Iranian households own pet birds and are therefore at risk of a number of bacterial, protozoal, fungal, viral, or parasitic zoonoses. Escherichia Coli O157:H7 is responsible for outbreaks of human intestinal diseases and the potentially fatal haemolytic-uraemic syndrome (HUS) worldwide. Considering people's interests to keep pet birds and the potential ability of pet birds to transmit Escherichia Coli O157:H7 to humans, the present study was conducted to evaluate Escherichia Coli O157:H7 infection in Yazd pet birds. In this cross-sectional study, 180 samples of pet bird feces (150 canaries (Serinus canari) and 30 lovebirds (Agapornis personata)) were collected from different areas of Yazd and evaluated for detection of E. Coli O157:H7 by bacteriological and PCR methods. The overall prevalence of Escherichia Coli in canary feces was 72.66% (109 out of 150) while no positive sample was found in the lovebird feces. Escherichia Coli O157:H7 was not found in any samples. The present study suggests pet birds feces are not sources of E. Coli O157:H7 in Yazd, Iran.