Salmonella bongori 48:z35:- in migratory birds, Italy

Strains of S. bongori are rarely isolated from human patients however, during 1984–2004, 27 strains of S. bongori with the antigenic formula 48:z35:– were identified from 2 epidemic clusters in Italy (Messina and Palermo), and from sporadic cases of acute enteritis that occurred in several cities in Sicily. No cases of human infections caused by S. bongori 48:z35:– have been reported in countries other than Italy. The authors conducted a study in October 2006, during ringing (banding) activity at the station of the University of Palermo on Ustica, a small island in the Tyrrhenian Sea near the northern coast of Sicily. Fresh fecal samples or cloacal swabs from 239 birds were analyzed. Routine procedures for isolation of Salmonella spp. were used. Two isolates, from 2 blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla), were identified as Salmonella spp. The Salmonella isolates were characterized by serotyping as S. bongori 48:z35:–. Molecular typing by PFGE after digestion of DNA by XbaI showed a banding pattern similar to that of all previously identified S. bongori 48:z35:–. Our findings suggest that passerine migratory birds may play a role in the introduction or persistence of S. bongori 48:z35 in southern Italy.