Urban Bird Populations Seem To Be Vectors For Resistant Bacteria Strains That Infect Humans

Urban ducks and crows might offer us a connection to nature, but scientists have found wild birds that live near humans are more likely to harbour bacteria resistant to important antibiotics. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is largely caused by the overuse of drugs such as antibiotics among humans and livestock.

The issue is of serious concern: according to data for 2019, about 4.95 million deaths globally were associated with bacterial AMR, including 1.27 million directly caused by such resistance. Researchers say species of wild birds that tend to turn up in urban settings are reservoirs for bacteria with the hallmarks of resistance to a host of drugs.

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Writing in the journal Current Biology, Sheppard and colleagues report how they analysed the genomes of bacteria found in 700 samples of bird poo from 30 wild bird species in Canada, Finland, Italy, Lithuania, Japan, Sweden, the UK and the US. The team looked specifically at the presence of different strains of Campylobacter jejuni – a type of bacteria that are ubiquitous in birds as a natural part of their gut microbiome. Such bacteria are a leading cause of human gastroenteritis, although antibiotics are generally only used in severe cases.

Sheppard added that, in general, each wild bird would be expected to harbour a single strain of C.jejuni, specific to that species. However, the team found wild birds that turn up in urban settings contain many more strains of C.jejuni than those that live away from humans. What’s more, the strains found in urban-dwelling species contained about three times as many genes known to result in antimicrobial resistance, with these genes also associated with resistance to a broader range of antimicrobials.

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/13/urban-birds-are-teeming-with-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria-study-finds