Salmonella infections in garden birds and cats in a domestic environment.

General rights Copyright for the publications made accessible via the Edinburgh Research Explorer is retained by the author(s) and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy The University of Edinburgh has made every reasonable effort to ensure that Edinburgh Research Explorer content complies with UK legislation. If you believe that the public display of this file breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. WILD bird strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, including phage types (definitive types) DT40 and DT56v, have been associated with disease in finches (Family Fringillidae), cats and human Salmonellosis in wild finches in the UK is related to congregation of birds around feeding tables in gardens in the cooler months of the year (Pennycott and others 2006). Cats are thought to become infected with wild bird strains of S Typhimurium by catching small birds at these feeding stations (Philbey and others 2008), but a direct link between salmonellosis in birds and cats has not been demonstrated. This short communication describes a study to investigate the occurrence of Salmonella species in wild birds, cats and the environment in a domestic setting. The study site comprised a household and two adjoining village gardens in Lennoxtown, near Glasgow, with three human occupants and two male neutered domestic shorthair cats (cat 1: five years old; cat 2: 10 years old). Feeders containing mixed seed, niger seed, peanuts or fat were provided at two feeding sites in each of the gardens. Sick birds were observed in both gardens over an eight-week-period from late December 2008 to early February 2009 (Fig 1a). During this period, cat 1 caught 14 goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis) and eight sis-kins (Carduelis spinus), and later caught several greenfinches (Carduelis chloris) and chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs) (Fig 1b). Many of these birds were taken from cat 1 by cat 2 and, apart from intact birds retrieved for postmortem examination, the birds were mostly eaten indoors by either of the two cats. In the previous year, cat 1 had caught only a few small rodents. Six uneaten or partially eaten carcases (two siskins, two chaffinches, one goldfinch and one greenfinch) were retrieved from the cats in January and February 2009 (Table 1, Fig 1c). On gross …