Occurrence of Yersinia rohdei among feral reindeer (Rangifer t. tarandus) and kelp gulls (Larus dominicanus) on the Sub-Antarctic island South Georgia

ABSTRACT

Introduction: During a research expedition in 2012, faecal samples were collected from feral reindeer and kelp gulls on the main island of South Georgia in the Sub-Antarctic region of the Atlantic. The samples were analysed for bacteria of the genus Yersinia with the aim of identifying isolates to the species level. Materials and Methods: A total of 11 reindeer samples and 26 Kelp Gull samples were retrieved from the location of Stromness, kept refrigerated and cultivated for gram-negative bacteria. Results: Three of the samples showed growth of Yersinia rohdei, as confirmed by biochemical typing, MALDI-TOF and 16S rRNA sequencing. The isolates were indistinguishable from each other by 16S sequencing, and differed by a single base pair from the type strain of Y. rohdei. Discussion: The Yersinia genus contains well-known pathogens of significance to both human and veterinary medicine, but the public health and animal health relevance of Y. rohdei is unknown. Although it is clear that Y. rhodei is present in the south Georgian biotope, its importance and relevance for biological diversity is unknown, as is if this presence is merely a reflection of human activities.

KEYWORDS:

• Intestinal
• kelp gull
• rangifer
• reindeer
• sub-antarctic islands
• yersinia

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Quark Expeditions for hosting the researchers during the field work phase of this study. Furthermore, we thank Anna Rosander, SLU, for valuable input related to the analyses and the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Landstinget i Kalmar län; Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet;Uppsala Universitet.

Notes on contributors

Jonas Bonnedahl

Jonas Bonnedahl is a physician and senior consultant in Infectious diseases. Working as a physician and with a keen interest in wildlife his research has been on zoonotic diseases in general. The last ten years the focus has been on antibiotic resistant enterobacteria in wildlife and particular wild birds.

Charlotte Berg

Charlotte Berg Charlotte ‘Lotta’ Berg is a veterinarian by training and has been carrying out research on various aspects of farm animal welfare, husbandry systems and biosecurity. Furthermore, she has been involved in a number of research projects and professional training in relation to animal welfare at the time of slaughter or on-farm killing for disease control, both nationally and internationally. Systematic research into legal systems for animal welfare and risk-based animal welfare control are other current fields of interest, as is the interface between wildlife and domestic animal health. ´She is a member of the steering group of the One Health Sweden network, and has been a member of the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) expert panel on animal health and animal welfare. She is currently employed as a Professor in animal environment and health at the Department of animal environment and health at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skara.

Dan I. Andersson

Dan I. Andersson is a professor of medical bacteriology at Uppsala University, Sweden. He uses genetics and experimental evolution to study genome stability and variability, development of antibiotic resistance and evolution of new genes.

Robert Söderlund

Robert Söderlund is a biotechnology engineer with a PhD in bioinformatics. He is currently working as a research scientist at the Swedish national veterinary institute (SVA). He is specialized in the molecular epidemiology of zoonotic bacterial pathogens, in particular members of the Enterobacteriaceae family such as enterohaemorrhagic E. coli and Salmonella. His primary research interests are the prediction of virulence and host bias based on genomic traits, and the application of genomics to outbreak investigation and broader studies on the spatio-temporal dynamics of pathogens in their animal and human hosts.

Ivar Vågsholm

Ivar Vågsholm Graduated as veterinarian 1984 and obtained his PhD from University of California 1989, he has worked with European Union questions relating to animal health and food safety the last 30 years. He has been diplomate (population medicine) of ECVPH since 2001. A key contribution to translating science into public benefits has been as member of the EFSA scientific panels on Animal health and Welfare from 2012–2015, Biological Hazards 2003–2012, and EU Commission’s Scientific Committee of Veterinary Measures relating to Public Health 1997–2003.

Björn Olsen

Björn Olsen is professor and senior physician in infectious diseases and director of the Zoonosis Science Center, Uppsala University. His main research interest is on the ecology, epidemiology and molecular characteristics of zoonotic infections in general and bird borne infections in particular.