Antibiotic resistance in wild birds

Abstract

Wild birds have been postulated as sentinels, reservoirs, and potential spreaders of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been isolated from a multitude of wild bird species. Several studies strongly indicate transmission of resistant bacteria from human rest products to wild birds. There is evidence suggesting that wild birds can spread resistant bacteria through migration and that resistant bacteria can be transmitted from birds to humans and vice versa. Through further studies of the spatial and temporal distribution of resistant bacteria in wild birds, we can better assess their role and thereby help to mitigate the increasing global problem of antibiotic resistance.

Temporal variations in patterns ofEscherichia colistrain diversity and antimicrobial resistance in the migrant Egyptian vulture

“…High occurence of E. coli strains matches well with the strongly synanthropic habit of the Egyptian vultures in their wintering grounds. This in turn matches past observations of higher prevalence in more synanthropic host species [11,44]. …”

Microdilution testing reveals considerable and diverse antimicrobial resistance of Escherichia coli, thermophilic Campylobacter spp. and Salmonella spp. isolated from wild birds present in urban areas

“…Worldwide, studies about antimicrobial resistances in wild birds have been performed (Bonnedahl and Järhult 2014) but these are mostly limited to certain species or areas. A recent extensive study investigated E. coli isolates from gulls from nine European countries and has shown a north-to-south gradient in resistances (Stedt et al 2014).…”

‘Disperse abroad in the land’: the role of wildlife in the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance

“…In communal corvid roosts in Europe and the USA, 2.5-6.0% of faecal samples contained resistance genes for vancomycin, an antimicrobial 'of last resort' in human medicine [23,35]. Gulls carrying medically significant AMR are capable of long-range movements and are increasingly found feeding on anthropogenic waste and nesting in urban areas [24,27,36]. Similarly, in aquatic ecosystems, uneaten food and faeces from human sewage, agriculture and aquaculture containing antimicrobials and AMR bacteria can be ingested by wild fish and other organisms, which can travel enormous distances and in some cases enter the human food chain [20].…”

“…AMR has been detected, particularly among commensal gut bacteria, in wild mammals, birds, reptiles and fish, with the prevalence and resistance patterns varying across species, locations and possibly time (e.g. [3,20,[23][24][25][26][27]). Current data on AMR in wildlife largely consist of series of 'snap shots' proving the presence of resistomes (all of the antibiotic resistance genes found in microbes [13]) in those animals, but little else.…”

“…In the UK, for example, we and others have found that AMR is frequently found in both wild mammals and birds, although the sources and drivers of AMR are often unclear ( [18,24,31,32]; figure 2 and table 1). We found that the patterns of AMR in E. coli from the livestock and rodents resident on intensive livestock farms (table 1), and the genes encoding that resistance, were often similar.…”