ABSTRACT
AIMS: The purpose of this study was to investigate the staphylococcal flora associated with wild turkey populations. METHODS AND RESULTS: Faecal samples obtained from 26 wild turkeys over a 16-month period were inoculated onto mannitol salt agar plates to select for staphylococci. Fifty-seven randomly chosen isolates were identified as Staphylococcus lentus and their susceptibility determined against clindamycin, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, oxacillin, penicillin G, rifampin, tetracycline, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and vancomycin. Resistance was minimal as only 3 isolates showed resistance to clindamycin, 3 isolates were resistant to oxacillin, 3 isolates were resistant to penicillin G, and 1 isolate was resistant to erythromycin. Multiple antibiotic resistance was also minimal. CONCLUSIONS: S. lentus is the predominant staphylococcal species associated with wild turkey faeces and antibiotic resistance in these organisms is not problematic. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: S. lentus has been shown as a potential causative agent of inflammatory reactions in the respiratory tract. Due to increased numbers of wild turkeys and more frequent human exposure, surveys to monitor microbial populations are warranted.
Subject(s)
Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial , Feces/microbiology , Poultry Diseases/microbiology , Staphylococcal Infections/microbiology , Staphylococcal Infections/veterinary , Staphylococcus/drug effects , Turkeys/microbiology , Animals , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Biological Evolution , Environmental Monitoring , Epidemiological Monitoring , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Poultry Diseases/epidemiology , Staphylococcal Infections/epidemiology , Staphylococcus/growth & development , Staphylococcus/isolation & purificationABSTRACT
During the spring and fall turkey hunting seasons of 1999, hunters and Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks field personnel examined wild turkeys, Meleagris gallopavo L., for ticks and submitted them to us for identification. From springtime hunting, we received 113 ticks from 12 turkeys killed in nine counties, all in the eastern one-third of Kansas. Collectors reported examining three additional wild turkeys on which no ticks were found. All ticks were nymphal lone star ticks, Amblyomma americanum (L.). Of 11 wild turkeys examined in seven counties during October, one was parasitized by 30 A. americanum larvae. Data from this study and accounts from the published literature suggest that parasitism of wild turkeys by immature lone star ticks is commonplace wherever this host and ectoparasite are sympatric. Our study suggests that M. gallopavo may be an important host that supports lone star tick populations.
Subject(s)
Bird Diseases/parasitology , Tick Infestations/veterinary , Ticks , Turkeys/parasitology , Animals , Animals, Wild , Kansas , Paralysis , Tick Infestations/parasitologyABSTRACT
The health status of wild northern bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) from Lyon County, Kansas, was evaluated by conducting comprehensive health assessments on 25 birds. Gross lesions indicative of avian pox, ulcerative enteritis, and quail bronchitis were not present. Serologic tests for antibodies to Salmonella pullorum, Salmonella gallinarum, Pasteurella multocida, Mycoplasma gallisepticum, Mycoplasma synoviae, and avian adenoviruses were all negative. Intestinal coccidia (Eimeria spp.) were found in 36% of the birds. Only three species of helminth parasites were found: Dispharynx nasuta in two birds, Cyrnea colini in one bird, and larval Physaloptera sp. in four birds. Arthropod parasites (ticks, lice, mites, and/or chiggers) were present on 96% of the birds examined. Compared with wild bobwhite populations in the southeastern United States, the diversity, prevalence, and intensities of microbial and parasitic agents were low.
Subject(s)
Colinus/physiology , Animals , Animals, Wild , Bird Diseases/diagnosis , Bird Diseases/epidemiology , Female , Health Status , Infections/epidemiology , Infections/veterinary , Kansas/epidemiology , Male , Parasitic Diseases, Animal/epidemiology , PrevalenceABSTRACT
Wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo, n = 1164) were tested for Mycoplasma gallisepticum, Mycoplasma meleagridis, Mycoplasma synoviae, and Salmonella pullorum from 1990 to 1997. Although 3.3% of the turkeys were suspect for one or more diseases, only 0.9% were serologically positive for M. gallisepticum. These 11 positives were all from one country in south-central Kansas.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Bacterial/blood , Bird Diseases/epidemiology , Mycoplasma Infections/veterinary , Mycoplasma/immunology , Salmonella Infections, Animal/epidemiology , Salmonella/immunology , Turkeys , Animals , Animals, Wild , Immune Sera/immunology , Immunoassay/veterinary , Incidence , Kansas/epidemiology , Mycoplasma Infections/epidemiologyABSTRACT
During a telemetry study conducted between 1993 and 1995 in east-central Kansas (USA) on northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) populations, a wild adult male quail was found with signs of disorientation and torticollis in August 1994 in Lyon County, Kansas. Based on histological and parasitological examination, it was determined that the bird was infected with larval nematodes of the genus Baylisascaris spp. This is the first known recorded case of Baylisascaris sp. in a wild game bird species.
