| Affiliations: | |
| Project Leader: | Mary Grigar mgrigar@cvm.tamu.edu Veterinary Integrative Biosciences |
| Faculty Mentor: | Kevin Cummings, DVM, Ph.D. |
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Meeting Times:
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Summer 2016 (complete) |
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Team Size:
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4 (Team Full) |
| Open Spots: | 0 |
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Special Opportunities:
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potential co-authorship, poster/oral presentations, and field work experience. |
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Team Needs:
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Description:
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The role of wild birds in the ecology and transmission of foodborne pathogens is poorly understood, although recent evidence suggests that European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) and other wild birds might be a source of Salmonella enterica transmission to cattle (Carlson et al., 2011; Callaway et al., 2014). Starlings and other birds congregate in huge numbers at feedlots, particularly during the fall and winter when other food resources become scarce. These birds consume large volumes of cattle feed and cause widespread fecal contamination of food and water sources on feedlots. However, it is unknown whether birds are disseminating pathogen strains and antimicrobial resistance phenotypes that are already present within the feedlot environment or if they are introducing novel pathogens and resistance phenotypes into cattle populations. There is thus a critical need to define the role of wild birds in the epidemiology of cattle-associated Salmonella strains. Our overarching hypothesis is that starlings and other wild birds pose a significant intrinsic risk of Salmonella contamination of feedlot environments and transmission of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella to cattle, leading to increased prevalence of fecal Salmonella shedding among feedlot cattle at harvest. |