ORIGINAL ARTICLE Antimicrobial susceptibility and detection of virulence-associated genes of Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. isolated from domestic pigeons (Columba livia) in Brazil Daiane Carvalho 1 & Hiran Castagnino Kunert-Filho 1 & Cintia Simoni 2 & Lucas Brunelli de Moraes 3 & Thales Quedi Furian 1 & Karen Apellanis Borges 1 & Jônatas Grellmann Breunig 2 & Leonardo Pinto Medeiros 4 & Renata Katsuko Takayama Kobayashi 4 & Kelly Cristina Tagliari de Brito 2 & Benito Guimarães de Brito 2 Received: 27 May 2019 / Accepted: 18 February 2020 # Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i. 2020 Abstract Overpopulation of domestic pigeons is considered to be one of the major problems of urban centers, as these birds are responsible for the dissemination of relevant pathogens to animal and human health. The aim of this study was to detect potentially pathogenic Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. in domestic pigeons captured in areas near silos used for grain and feed storage, analyzing the antimicrobial sensitivity and the presence of virulence-associated genes. We evaluated 41 pigeons. From each bird, cecal contents and a pool of viscera (heart, spleen, and liver) were collected. Fifty strains of E. coli and three strains of S. Typhimurium were isolated. The antimicrobial susceptibility assay showed that 2% of the isolates of E. coli were resistant to chloramphenicol and the combination of sulfamethoxazole + trimethoprim and 4% to tetracycline, doxycycline, and sulfon- amide. The three S. Typhimurium strains were sensitive to all antimicrobials tested. The pathogenicity profile demonstrated that no E. coli isolates showed a STEC compatible profile. Regarding the APEC pathotype, all genes were observed in 8% of E. coli, 6% had only the iss gene and 4% presented ompT , hlyF , and iutA genes. invA, hilA, avrA, and lpfA genes were detected in 100% of Salmonella isolates. The sitC and pefA genes were only present in one strain and the remaining genes were detected in two. In conclusion, it was found that pigeons living in the vicinity of silos are carriers of important pathogens, and control measures should be taken to minimize animal and human health risks. Introduction The disorderly process of urbanization in large cities in the last few decades, along with the absence of more efficient mea- sures for urban and rural environmental control, has caused great challenges and difficulties in the relationship between human being and the environment. In many cities, the domestic pigeon (Columba livia) has become a public health problem due to overpopulation. This cosmopolitan species (Cabi 2018) are characterized by its efficient reproductive lev- el and meekness, which is important for their adaptation and survival. In addition, pigeons adapt easily to the environments where they live, and they can take refuge in trees, cliffs, and urban constructions, among others. These animals are usually * Karen Apellanis Borges karen.borges@ufrgs.br Daiane Carvalho daicarvalho_vet@hotmail.com Hiran Castagnino Kunert-Filho hiran_veterinario@hotmail.com Cintia Simoni cintia-simoni@saude.rs.gov.br Lucas Brunelli de Moraes lucasbmoraes@gmail.com Thales Quedi Furian thales.furian@ufrgs.br Renata Katsuko Takayama Kobayashi kobayashirkt@uel.br Kelly Cristina Tagliari de Brito kelly_tagliari@hotmail.com Benito Guimarães de Brito benitobrito@gmail.com Extended author information available on the last page of the article Folia Microbiologica https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-020-00781-w