Beaches may be reservoirs of E.coli

PARIS, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Beaches may be a reservoir of the pathogen E.coli as a result of migratory bird droppings, researchers in France and Portugal say.

Scientists at the Hopital de Bicetre in Paris and Universidade do Porto in Portugal said E.coli can be very resistant to antibiotic drugs, which makes the infection hard to treat.

The researchers found the same bacteria in the bird droppings as hospitalized people and concluded that people were getting infected by bird droppings on the sand on the beaches in Portugal. The Porto coastline in Portugal, including downtown Porto, has a large seagull population, the researchers said.

During December 2007 through April 2008, wild seagull feces were collected on beaches in Porto, Portugal. Twenty samples were collected every two weeks and the researchers detected E.coli in the samples.

The study, scheduled to be published in the January edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases, suggested that beaches may play a major role in dissemination of drug resistant E.coli and related community-acquired infections. Migratory birds, such as seagulls crossing an extensive portion of the European coastline between Portugal and Scandinavia, may be reservoirs for these emerging resistance determinants, the study said.