Wild bird species have commonly been implicated as potential vectors of pathogens to other species, humans included. However, the habitat where birds live could influence the probability to acquire these pathogens. Here, we evaluated if the characteristics of the environment used by obligate scavenging birds (vultures) influence their colonization by zoonotic pathogens. For this, we particularly focused on Salmonella spp., a zoonotic pathogen commonly present in bird species. The occurrence of this bacteria was evaluated in free ranging Andean condors (Vultur gryphus) using natural environments from Argentina and compared with those obtained from condors under human care. In addition, we compared our results with those reported for other wild vultures using natural and anthropized environments at a global scale. We did not find Salmonella spp. in samples of wild condors. Captive condor samples presented Salmonella spp. with an occurrence of 2.8%, and one isolate of Meticilin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, among other potential pathogenic microorganisms. Moreover, some species of free ranging vultures from diverse geographical areas using anthropized environments tend to present higher occurrences of Salmonella spp. These results highlight the importance of pristine ecosystems to protect vultures’ health toward pathogenic microorganisms that can produce disease in these birds, but also in other species. We call for more studies evaluating differences in occurrence of zoonotic pathogens in vultures according to the quality of the environment they use. Even when vultures have not been implicated in zoonotic pathogen spread, our results add information to evaluate potential events of pathogen spillover between vultures and from these birds to other species.

中文翻译：

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接触人类活动区域可能会影响食腐鸟类中人畜共患微生物的定殖

野生鸟类通常被认为是包括人类在内的其他物种的潜在病原体载体。然而，鸟类居住的栖息地可能会影响感染这些病原体的可能性。在这里，我们评估了专性食腐鸟类（秃鹫）所处的环境特征是否会影响人畜共患病原体在它们的定殖。为此，我们特别关注沙门氏菌，这是一种常见于鸟类的人畜共患病原体。使用阿根廷的自然环境评估了这种细菌在自由放养的安第斯秃鹰（Vultur gryphus ）中的存在情况，并与在人类照料下的秃鹰中获得的细菌进行了比较。此外，我们将我们的结果与全球范围内使用自然和人为环境的其他野生秃鹫报告的结果进行了比较。我们没有发现沙门氏菌。在野生秃鹰的样本中。圈养秃鹰样本中含有沙门氏菌。发生率为 2.8%，以及一株耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌等潜在病原微生物。此外，来自不同地理区域、使用人工化环境的一些自由放养秃鹫物种往往存在较高的沙门氏菌属物种发生率。这些结果凸显了原始生态系统对于保护秃鹰健康免受病原微生物的重要性，这些病原微生物可能在这些鸟类中产生疾病，但也在其他物种中产生疾病。我们呼吁进行更多研究，根据秃鹫使用的环境质量来评估人畜共患病原体发生的差异。即使秃鹫没有涉及人畜共患病原体传播，我们的结果也提供了信息来评估秃鹫之间以及从这些鸟类到其他物种的病原体溢出的潜在事件。