Scientists fear migratory birds may be spreading hard-to-treat infections after discovering seagulls can carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Portuguese researchers analysed 57 samples of droppings from the yellow-legged Caspian Gull Larus Cachinnans.
They found that one in 10 harboured bacteria resistant to a common antibiotic called vancomycin. They told Proteome Science journal the birds probably pick up the infection from eating scraps in human garbage.
The white and grey gulls can often be seen flocking on rubbish tips, and are common in many southern parts of the UK. The researchers have found similar antibiotic-resistant bacteria in other scavenger animals like wild foxes and wolves.
For their study, the scientists collected and analysed bird dropping samples from an island off the Portuguese coast.
Lead scientist Gilberto Igrejas, of the University of Tras-os-Montes and Alto Douro, explained: "We used a novel technique called proteomics to detect the maximum number of bacterial proteins which are thought to be connected in some, as yet unknown, way to antibiotic resistance."
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