Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter from wild birds of prey in Spain

Antimicrobial Resistance in the Context of Animal Production and Meat Products in Poland-A Critical Review and Future Perspective

The prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in meat and meat products is a significant public health challenge, largely driven by the excessive and inappropriate use of antimicrobials in animal husbandry. In Poland, a key meat producer in Europe, antibiotic-resistant pathogens such as Campylobacter spp., Staphylococcus spp., Enterococcus spp., Listeria monocytogenes, and Enterobacterales have been detected in meat, posing serious risks to consumers. This review examines the use of antimicrobial agents in meat production and the resulting antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in microorganisms isolated from meat products in Poland. The mechanisms of AMR, genetic factors, and prevalence in Poland are presented. It highlights key factors contributing to AMR, such as antibiotic misuse in livestock farming, and discusses the legal regulations governing veterinary drug residues in food. This review emphasizes the importance of monitoring and enforcement to safeguard public health and calls for further research on AMR in the meat industry. Antimicrobial resistance in meat and meat products in Poland is a huge challenge, requiring stricter antibiotic controls in animal husbandry and improved surveillance systems. Additionally, the impact of husbandry practices on the environment and food requires further research. Future efforts should focus on nationwide monitoring, alternative strategies to reduce antibiotic use, and stronger enforcement to combat antimicrobial resistance and protect public health.

Exploring the Role of the Environment as a Reservoir of Antimicrobial-Resistant Campylobacter: Insights from Wild Birds and Surface Waters

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global health challenge, compromising bacterial infection treatments and necessitating robust surveillance and mitigation strategies. The overuse of antimicrobials in humans and farm animals has made them hotspots for AMR. However, the spread of AMR genes in wildlife and the environment represents an additional challenge, turning these areas into new AMR hotspots. Among the AMR bacteria considered to be of high concern for public health, Campylobacter has been the leading cause of foodborne infections in the European Union since 2005. This study examines the prevalence of AMR genes and virulence factors in Campylobacter isolates from wild birds and surface waters in Luxembourg. The findings reveal a significant prevalence of resistant Campylobacter strains, with 12% of C. jejuni from wild birds and 37% of C. coli from surface waters carrying resistance genes, mainly against key antibiotics like quinolones and tetracycline. This study underscores the crucial role of the environment in the spread of AMR bacteria and genes, highlighting the urgent need for enhanced surveillance and control measures to curb AMR in wildlife and environmental reservoirs and reduce transmission risks to humans. This research supports One Health approaches to tackling antimicrobial resistance and protecting human, animal, and environmental health.

Exploring the Prevalence and Resistance of Campylobacter in Urban Bird Populations

The increasing urbanization of ecosystems has had a significant impact on wildlife over the last few years. Species that find an unlimited supply of food and shelter in urban areas have thrived under human presence. Wild birds have been identified as amplifying hosts and reservoirs of Campylobacter worldwide, but the information about its transmission and epidemiology is still limited. This study assessed the prevalence of Campylobacter in 137 urban birds admitted at a wildlife rescue center, with 18.8% of individuals showing positive. C. jejuni was the most frequent species (82.6%), followed by C. coli and C. lari (4.3% each). The order Passeriformes (33.3%) showed significant higher presence of Campylobacter when compared to orders Columbiformes (0%) and Ciconiiformes (17.6%), as well as in samples collected during the summer season (31.9%), from omnivorous species (36.8%) and young individuals (26.8%). Globally, Campylobacter displayed a remarkable resistance to ciprofloxacin (70.6%), tetracycline (64.7%), and nalidixic acid (52.9%). In contrast, resistance to streptomycin was low (5.8%), and all the isolates showed susceptibility to erythromycin and gentamycin. The results underline the importance of urban birds as reservoirs of thermophilic antimicrobial-resistant Campylobacter and contribute to enhancing the knowledge of its distribution in urban and peri-urban ecosystems.

Prevalence, genomic characterization and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter spp. isolates in pets in Shenzhen, China

The prevalence of Campylobacter spp.in pets is a potential concern for human health. However, little is known about the pet-related Campylobacter spp. in China. A total of 325 fecal samples were collected from dogs, cats, and pet foxes. Campylobacter spp. were isolated by culture, and MALDI-TOF MS was used to identify 110 Campylobacter spp. isolates in total. C. upsaliensis (30.2%, 98/325), C. helveticus (2.5%, 8/325), and C. jejuni (1.2%, 4/325) were the three found species. In dogs and cats, the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. was 35.0% and 30.1%, respectively. A panel of 11 antimicrobials was used to evaluate the antimicrobial susceptibility by the agar dilution method. Among C. upsaliensis isolates, ciprofloxacin had the highest rate of resistance (94.9%), followed by nalidixic acid (77.6%) and streptomycin (60.2%). Multidrug resistance (MDR) was found in 55.1% (54/98) of the C. upsaliensis isolates. Moreover, 100 isolates, including 88 C. upsaliensis, 8 C. helveticus, and 4 C. jejuni, had their whole genomes sequenced. By blasting the sequence against the VFDB database, virulence factors were identified. In total, 100% of C. upsaliensis isolates carried the cadF, porA, pebA, cdtA, cdtB, and cdtC genes. The flaA gene was present in only 13.6% (12/88) of the isolates, while the flaB gene was absent. By analyzing the sequence against the CARD database, we found that 89.8% (79/88) of C. upsaliensis isolates had antibiotic target alteration in the gyrA gene conferring resistance to fluoroquinolone, 36.4% (32/88) had the aminoglycoside resistance gene, and 19.3% (17/88) had the tetracycline resistance gene. The phylogenetic analysis using the K-mer tree method obtained two major clades among the C. upsaliensis isolates. All eight isolates in subclade 1 possessed the gyrA gene mutation, the aminoglycoside and tetracycline resistance genes, and were phenotypically resistant to six classes of antimicrobials. It has been established that pets are a significant source of Campylobacter spp. strains and a reservoir for them. This study is the first to have documented the presence of Campylobacter spp. in pets in Shenzhen, China. In this study, C. upsaliensis of subclade 1 required additional attention due to its broad MDR phenotype and relatively high flaA gene prevalence.

A Systematic Review on the Role of Wildlife as Carriers and Spreaders of Campylobacter spp

Campylobacter spp. are important zoonotic pathogens and can cause one of the main bacterial diarrheal diseases worldwide. Research in the context of infection arising from transmission from other humans and other vertebrates has been extensive. A large fraction of these investigations has focused on domestic animals; however, there are also a number of publications which either totally, or at least in part, consider the role of wild or feral animals as carriers or spreaders of Campylobacter spp. Here, we carry out a systematic review to explore the role played by wild vertebrates as sources of Campylobacter spp. with a compilation of prevalence data for more than 150 species including reptiles, mammals and birds. We found that numerous vertebrate species can act as carriers of Campylobacter species, but we also found that some host specificity may exist, reducing the risk of spread from wildlife to domestic animals or humans.

The potential role of migratory birds in the transmission of pathogenic Campylobacter species to broiler chickens in broiler poultry farms and live bird markets

BACKGROUND

Campylobacter species (spp.) are one of the most important zoonotic bacteria possessing potential hazards for animal and human health worldwide. Migratory birds are implicated as significant carriers for microbes and a play very important role in the dissemination of Campylobacter to broiler chickens and their environment. The purpose of this investigation was to detect the prevalence, antibiotic resistant patterns, virulence and diversity of pathogenic Campylobacter spp. in 7 migratory bird species (Northern shoveler, Common pochard, Common teal, Northern pintail, Eared Grebe, Great Crested Grebe and Garganey) and broiler chickens that were collected from broiler poultry farms and live bird markets.

RESULTS

The prevalence of Campylobacter was 12.5% (25/200), of which 15% (15/100) was recovered from 5 migratory bird species only and 10% (10/100) from broiler chickens. At the level of migratory birds, eight isolates (53.3%) were Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) and 7 isolates (46.7%) were Campylobacter coli (C. coli) meanwhile, in broiler chickens C. jejuni and C. coli were 50% (5/10) for each. All isolated strains had phenotypic resistance to doxycycline, while all of the isolates were susceptible to amikacin. The multidrug resistance to three, four or five antimicrobial classes was found in 72% (18/25) of the isolated strains. The multiantibiotic resistance index between the examined isolates was 0.22-0.77, with 10 antibiotic resistance patterns. The virulence of isolated Campylobacter strains (from both migratory birds and broiler chicken birds) was detected by targeting the VirB11, ciaB and iam genes which were recorded at 16%, 52% and 100%, respectively. Additionally, 100% and 84% of the antibiotic resistance genes were identified as tetA and BlaOXA-61, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study revealed the diversity between all the isolated strains from migratory birds and their similarity to broiler chicken isolates. The findings of the present study highlight the impact of migratory birds visiting Egypt and other countries on pathogenic Campylobacter spp. carrying pathogenic virulence and resistance genes, necessitating the application of biosecurity measures to prevent migratory birds from entering farms during their migration period.

Metagenomic Strain-Typing Combined with Isolate Sequencing Provides Increased Resolution of the Genetic Diversity of Campylobacter jejuni Carriage in Wild Birds

As the world's leading cause of human gastro-enteritis, the food- and waterborne pathogen Campylobacter needs to be intensively monitored through a One Health approach. Particularly, wild birds have been hypothesized to contribute to the spread of human clinical recurring C. jejuni genotypes across several countries. A major concern in studying epidemiological dynamics is resolving the large genomic diversity of strains circulating in the environment and various reservoirs, challenging to achieve with isolation techniques. Here, we applied a passive-filtration method to obtain isolates and in parallel recovered genotypes from metagenomic sequencing data from associated filter sweeps. For genotyping mixed strains, a reference-based computational workflow to predict allelic profiles of nine extended-MLST loci was utilized. We validated the pipeline by sequencing artificial mixtures of C. jejuni strains and observed the highest prediction accuracy when including obtained isolates as references. By analyzing metagenomic samples, we were able to detect over 20% additional genetic diversity and observed an over 50% increase in the potential to connect genotypes across wild-bird samples. With an optimized filtration method and a computational approach for genotyping strain mixtures, we provide the foundation for future studies assessing C. jejuni diversity in environmental and clinical settings at improved throughput and resolution.

Nocturnal Birds of Prey as Carriers of Staphylococcus aureus and Other Staphylococci: Diversity, Antimicrobial Resistance and Clonal Lineages

Owls are nocturnal predators that inhabit urbanized and farmlands. They are in direct contact with other animals, both livestock and small wild rodents that they mostly feed on. Staphylococci can be both commensal and pathogenic bacteria that are widespread across the various ecological niches. We aimed to isolate staphylococci from owls and to characterize their antimicrobial resistance, virulence factors and genetic lineages. Swab samples were collected from the throat and cloaca of 114 owls admitted to two rehabilitation centers in Portugal. The identification of staphylococci species was performed by MALDI-TOF. Staphylococci antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes were investigated by means of the disk diffusion method and PCR. Staphylococcus aureus isolates were characterized by MLST, agr and spa-typing. Of the tested animals, 66 isolates were recovered, including 10 different species of staphylococci, of which 25 were coagulase-positive (CoPS) and 41 were coagulase-negative (CoNS). Twenty-three S. aureus were isolated, of which one mecC-MRSA was identified. The isolates were mainly resistant to penicillin, aminoglycosides, clindamycin and tetracycline. mecC-MRSA belonged to ST1245 and spa-type t843 and the remaining S. aureus were ascribed to 12 STs and 15 spa types. A high diversity of clonal lineages was identified among the S. aureus isolated from wild owls. Owls feed mainly on small rodents often exposed to waste and anthropogenic sources, which may explain the moderate prevalence of S. aureus in these animals.

Campylobacter in Wild Birds: Is It an Animal and Public Health Concern?

Campylobacteriosis continues to be one of the leading causes of foodborne bacterial zoonotic infections worldwide. Despite its public health importance, the status of this disease in wild birds and the possibility of transmission from wild birds to domestic animals and humans have not been clearly elucidated yet. This article reviews the available literature with the aim of making a comprehensive manuscript on this disease status in wild birds and the possibility of interspecies transmission. Campylobacter has been isolated from various species of wild birds worldwide, with C. jejuni being the most commonly isolated species. The prevalence of Campylobacter in wild birds may vary depending on several factors like geographical location, season, the bird’s health status, bird species, sample type, the method used, and ecological factors. Molecular studies over the past two to three decades have characterized Campylobacter strains isolated from wild birds and have come up with results that fall into two categories. The first are those that report overlapping strains among human, domestic animal, and wild bird isolates. The results of the studies under this category emphasize that wild birds carry strains of Campylobacter, which are indistinguishable from domestic animals and humans and are therefore an important public and animal health concern. In contrast, the studies under the second category highlight significant differences in Campylobacter population structure among these hosts. Despite the controversiality and the inadequacy of current research to draw a full conclusion, the role of wild birds in the epidemiology of Campylobacter should not be undermined as drug-resistant strains, especially resistance to tetracycline and fluoroquinolones, are increasingly documented. In addition, source attribution studies have linked human cases of Campylobacter infections to wild birds. Therefore, the role of wild birds in the epidemiology of Campylobacter infection should not be neglected. However, in order to determine disease status in wild birds and the precise role of wild birds in domestic animals and human health, detail-oriented epidemiological investigations characterizing the genetic relatedness of isolates from the respective species and environment through one health approach are warranted.