In the last few years, due to the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as a public health concern and, although the use of antibiotics to promote growth in livestock has been outlawed in the EU, regulation of their use is different throughout the world. In this scenario, poultry production makes up a substantial portion of the global antimicrobial use. The possibility for resistant microorganisms to be spread using different pathways is underlined by the fact that, even though wild animals are not directly exposed to antibiotics, AMR in wild species is increasingly being reported around the world. Wild birds, in particular, are considered sentinels and disseminators of antimicrobial resistant bacteria.
The aim of this research project is to assess the spread of antimicrobial-resistant strains of specific enterobacteria (Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, Enterococci spp.) in farmed (Gallus gallus) and wild avian species. This will be done in order to better identify the possibility of exchange of antimicrobial resistant strains between them.
Specific objectives of this research project are:
1.Research of the above-mentioned enterobacteria species from samples collected from conventional and free-range poultry farms and from synanthropic and migratory birds in the Lombardy region. Bacteria strains of interest will be isolated using conventional validated protocols and will be confirmed at a species level using the MALDI-TOF MS.
2.Study of the antimicrobial susceptibility profile of the isolated strains toward antimicrobials with Public Health relevance using the broth dilution method (MIC determination).
3.Compare the patterns of resistance and genetic diversity of the isolated resistant-strains for each matrix, sampled from wild birds and domestic ones, in order to determine whether there is a correlation and a possible overlap among them.
This study plans to provide the necessary data for the determination of phenotypic and genotypic resistance-traits in zoonotic enterobacteria strains. Also, this study will expand existing knowledge on the environmental cycle of antimicrobial-resistant strains and will give the opportunity to clarify aspects related to their exchange between wild birds and those that are intended for food production.
MA in Scienze e Tecnologie delle Produzioni Animali (STPA) at the University of Milan (UNIMI) in 2023 with the final evaluation of 110/110 cum laude.Master thesis on the analysis of the prevalence of Avian Influenza in wild birds hospitalized and deceased at a wildlife rehabilitation center in the Lombardy region. Around this time, I attended the Animal Infectious Diseases Laboratory (MiLab) – infectious diseases of avian and lagomorph species’s section – of the University, collaborating in the monitoring of avian viruses, in the microbiological diagnostics and in the evaluation of antimicrobial’s sensitivity in bacterial strains isolated from domestic and wild avian species.
BA in Scienze delle Produzioni Animali (SPA) at the University of Milan (UNIMI) in 2021 with the final evaluation of 110/110 cum laude.
My main interests are antimicrobial resistance, infectious disease of food-producing and wild animals, animal welfare and husbandry.
Publications: Orcid
Supervisor Prof. Guido Grilli
Co-supervisor Prof. Maria Filippa Addis
