Wild birds and silage as reservoirs ofListeriain the agricultural environment

摘要

A method for the isolation of listeria which enabled a more rapid detection of the organism was used to examine samples of silage and bird faeces. Faecal samples indicated that seagulls feeding at sewage works had a higher rate of carriage than those elsewhere. Faecal samples from rooks generally suggested a low incidence of listeria except on one occasion when eight of twenty samples containedListeria monocytogenes:this coincided with the nesting season and the peak period for listeriosis in sheep. The incidence ofL. monocytogenesin clamp silages ranged from 2.5–5.9, but in samples of big bale silages the incidence was 22.2 and, when mouldy samples were selected, 44