Are Seagulls Spreading Superbugs?

Seagulls are infamous scavengers. They peck at anything in sight, and appear especially drawn to pieces of garbage. Researchers have recently discovered that seagull dumpster diving is exposing the birds to discarded antibiotics, which then interact with their intestinal bacteria. These normal bacteria occasionally mutate into new, antibiotic-resistant bugs. 

Scientists do not how many types of resistant strains are out there. 

A new study in the journal Proteome Science looked at the prevalence of superbugs in seagulls. After analyzing droppings from 57 seagulls located in the Berlengas Natural Reserve in Portugal, a team of researchers, including Gilberto Igrejas from the University of Tras-on-Montes in Portugal, discovered that six birds -- 10.5 percent -- carried antibiotic-resistant bacteria. 

The results suggest that many more seagulls harbor resistance. It is unlikely that all of these birds developed the resistance on their own. Instead, the team thinks resistance is somehow spreading between birds, but they do not yet know how.

Igrejas and his colleagues are now wondering if the avian carriers can spread the bacteria to other species, including humans. 

For the most part, superbugs are relatively harmless to healthy people. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria prey on the weak, and cripple those already suffering from unrelated infections. They tend to show up in hospitals.

But the discovery of such organisms in the wild is alarming. "Migrating birds that fly and travel long distances can act as transporters, or as reservoirs, of antibiotic resistant bacteria and may consequently have a significant epidemiological role in the dissemination of resistance," the researchers wrote in their paper. 

In addition to identifying two strains of superbugs in seagulls, the team uncovered numerous proteins thought to be related to drug-resistance. Future studies can use their results as a starting ground for determining how the superbugs develop when exposed to antibiotics.

Image: Eric Kilby, Flickr