Occurrence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Salmonella spp. isolated from domestic pigeons Columba livia var. domestica in 2007-2017 in Poland

Salmonellosis is one of the most important bacterial diseases in pigeons. The disease occurs in birds of different ages, and long-term Salmonella spp. carrier status is a major problem. The study included 499 samples from live pigeons and internal organs from 265 necropsied birds. The samples were cultured on a standard and selective media. Their antimicrobial susceptibility was carried out by the Kirby-Bauer diffusion method. Thirty one Salmonella spp. isolates were cultured. Most isolates were obtained from the internal organs of dead or euthanised pigeons, and only single isolates were obtained from droppings and cloacal swabs. A total of 4% of the samples tested were positive. The greatest percentage of isolates was susceptible to enrofloxacin (96.3%) and florfenicol (95.7%). Sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim combination was effective against 73.9% of the isolates. Despite the fact of increasing antibiotic resistance of the investigated bacteria, it is comforting that enrofloxacin remains highly effective despite its widespread use in birds.