Feral pigeons as carriers of Salmonella spp. Study in municipalities in the east of Gran Canaria

Abstract

Feral pigeon populations are growing worldwide, especially in cities. In addition to this, there is a great deal of contact between these animals and their droppings and society. Therefore, pigeons can pose a health risk, since their zoonotic role against different pathogens (Salmonella spp., Cryptococcus spp., Histoplasma spp.) is known, and they can act as asymptomatic carriers of these pathogens. Due to the health risk involved, many municipalities of the island carry out population control plans of these. Due to the fact that it is not known if the pigeons in our geographical area can act as carriers of Salmonella spp. is why we have decided to carry out the following study. For this purpose, we have taken a total of 143 cloacal swabs from the municipalities of the southeastern part of the island of Gran Canaria. For the development of this work we used ISO 6579-1:2017 using in the enrichment medium a double concentration of magnesium chloride, and as a second selective isolation medium Hektoen agar. Our results showed that the prevalence of feral pigeons as carriers of Salmonella spp. was 2.8%, which shows that, although pigeons in our geographical area carry this pathogen, they do not pose a significant health risk.