Seagulls may help spread super-bugs

Seagulls may be helping spread super-bugs, scientists claim, after a study found that one in ten carried antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Portugese researchers analysed the droppings from 57 yellow legged Caspian Gulls, migratory birds that can be found across Europe, including in the south east of England.

The researchers used a new technique called proteomics to detect bacterial proteins which are thought to be connected in some - as yet unknown - way to antibacterial resistance.

Some of the strains of bacteria identified by scientists were resistant to vancomycin, an antibiotic usually used as a last resort in bacterial infections when all other treatments have failed.

Scavenging seagulls will readily eat food sources provided by humans, especially garbage. The birds may become infected after feeding on scraps.

As the gulls are migratory, they may also help carry the antibiotic resistant bacteria to other places, spreading the infection.

Study leader Gilberto Igrejas from the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal, said: "Migrating birds that fly and travel long distance can act as transporters, or as reservoirs, of antibiotic resistant bacteria and may consequently have a significant epidemiological role in the dissemination of resistance.

"Our comprehensive description of the proteins that we found may provide new targets for development of antimicrobial agents. This knowledge may also help to identify new biomarkers of antibiotic resistance and virulence factors," he added.

This article was published on Tue 21 September 2010