On April 14, the BCN-GULLS project was launched, an initiative to study the impact of the yellow-legged gull on public health in the city of Barcelona.
The study is promoted by a group of scientific institutions including the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC), the Public Health Agency of Barcelona, the Catalan Institute of Ornithology, the Institute of Global Health (ISGlobal) and the Biological Station of Doñana (EBD-CSIC). The project also has the collaboration of the Barcelona Zoo.
On April 14, the BCN-GULLS project was launched, an initiative to study the impact of the yellow-legged gull on public health in the city of Barcelona.
The study is promoted by a group of scientific institutions including the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC), the Public Health Agency of Barcelona, the Catalan Institute of Ornithology, the Institute of Global Health (ISGlobal) and the Biological Station of Doñana (EBD-CSIC). The project also has the collaboration of the Barcelona Zoo.
The yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) is an opportunistic seabird adapted to exploit, besides marine resources, food of human origin present in landfills and urban areas. This behaviour and the fact that part of the population of this species carries human-harmful bacteria, has caused it to be considered a plague species, related to the epidemiology of certain zoonosis, diseases of animal origin that can, accidentally, infect people.
In this new project, a multidisciplinary team composed of biology, ecology and microbiology experts, will work transversally for 5 years to identify the possible zoonotic impact of the yellow-legged gull in the city of Barcelona. For this purpose, they will study their movement patterns, their behaviour and their habitats within the city, in order to analyse the transmission potential of pathogens that could put in risk human and animal health in affected areas.
To monitor seabirds’ behaviour, the identification will be combined by remote reading rings with accurate GPS tracking devices. Thanks to this new technology, frequently visited places, such as nesting and feeding locations, can be identify. In addition, microbiological samples will be taken from each gull to analyse its zoonotic potential, that is, the probability of pathogenic bacteria dispersion and their possible relationship with infections in both humans and domestic animals.
This study aims to have a better understanding on the yellow-legged gull impact on public health in Barcelona, with perspective to a future adequate management of this species in the city.
Communication ICM-CSIC