Salmonella and Salmonellosis in Wild Birds
Animals·
- DOI
- 10.3390/ani14233533
- PMID
- —
- PMCID
- —
- OpenAlex
- W4405107992
- Study type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
Birds may transmit Salmonella to humans directly through fecal contact or indirectly via contamination of foods such as peanut butter. Fecal material on bird feeders and tables represents a contact risk requiring precautionary hygiene measures.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
This review examines the role of wild birds as reservoirs and susceptible hosts for Salmonella enterica, including their contribution to zoonotic transmission and emerging host-adapted variants causing mortality events.
Study design
Narrative review synthesizing evidence on Salmonella infection patterns in wild bird populations, transmission pathways, and evolutionary adaptation of specific genotypes.
Population and setting
Wild bird species globally, with specific focus on songbirds, passerines, and pigeons experiencing mortality events in Europe, Israel, New Zealand, and the United States.
Main findings
Wild birds more commonly recycle farm-based infection rather than serve as primary sources. Most infected birds remain asymptomatic carriers that shed bacteria in feces, posing indirect transmission risks through environmental contamination. Emerging S. Typhimurium genotypes show molecular signatures of host adaptation, including pseudogenes and metabolic pathway loss, and are associated with high mortality in specific avian hosts.
Public-health relevance
Birds may transmit Salmonella to humans directly through fecal contact or indirectly via contamination of foods such as peanut butter. Fecal material on bird feeders and tables represents a contact risk requiring precautionary hygiene measures.
Important limitations
This summary relies on the supplied single-article abstract and metadata. Comprehensive assessment of evidence quality, study inclusion criteria, and methodological rigor requires access to the full manuscript.
GIDS interpretation
The article was identified through classifier links to salmonellosis, One Health, and transmission dynamics topics, with geographic associations to Israel, New Zealand, and the United States. This tagging enables retrieval in outbreak intelligence workflows but does not indicate the paper resulted from or confirms an active surveillance signal.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 6 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.