Opportunistic Gulls Infected by Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Show Contrasting Movement Behaviour

8 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables, supporting information https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71257.-- Data Availability Statement: Data is uploaded as Supporting Information

The emergence, spread and potential zoonotic importance of pathogenic-resistant bacteria (e.g., Escherichia coli) has fuelled the research on epidemiology and vector movement dynamics. However, little is known about the effects that apparently asymptomatic carriage may have on host behaviour. Here, we analysed and compared movement patterns and habitat use (focused on the different risk of exposure to Antibiotic Resistance) of yellow-legged gulls (Larus michahellis) carrying (n = 10) and not carrying (n = 29) Antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli. Using data from GPS devices coupled with accelerometers, we found evidence that individuals carrying resistant E. coli, although previously considered asymptomatic, had lower accumulated travelled distances and moved over smaller areas. Antibiotic resistance carriage may affect movement patterns to some extent, as in this case, potentially reducing pathogen dispersal over large areas

This study is part of the Intramural CSIC Project ‘Opportunistic gulls as sentinel species to monitor urban marine ecosystems’. Infraestructures de la Generalitat de Catalunya S.A.U. funded some of the GPS devices. V.M.-V. a Juan de la Cierva fellowship from the Spanish Government (JDC2022-049638-I). [...] This work acknowledges the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S)

Peer reviewed