Dataset Information

Wild bird-associated Campylobacter jejuni isolates are a consistent source of human disease, in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.

ABSTRACT: The contribution of wild birds as a source of human campylobacteriosis was investigated in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom (UK) over a 10 year period. The probable origin of human Campylobacter jejuni genotypes, as described by multilocus sequence typing, was estimated by comparison with reference populations of isolates from farm animals and five wild bird families, using the STRUCTURE algorithm. Wild bird-attributed isolates accounted for between 476 (2.1%) and 543 (3.5%) cases annually. This proportion did not vary significantly by study year (P = 0.934) but varied seasonally, with wild bird-attributed genotypes comprising a greater proportion of isolates during warmer compared with cooler months (P = 0.003). The highest proportion of wild bird-attributed illness occurred in August (P < 0.001), with a significantly lower proportion in November (P = 0.018). Among genotypes attributed to specific groups of wild birds, seasonality was most apparent for Turdidae-attributed isolates, which were absent during cooler, winter months. This study is consistent with some wild bird species representing a persistent source of campylobacteriosis, and contributing a distinctive seasonal pattern to disease burden. If Oxfordshire is representative of the UK as a whole in this respect, these data suggest that the national burden of wild bird-attributed isolates could be in the order of 10,000 annually.

SUBMITTER: Cody AJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4755149 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Wild bird-associated Campylobacter jejuni isolates are a consistent source of human disease, in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.

Cody Alison J AJ McCarthy Noel D ND Bray James E JE Wimalarathna Helen M L HM Colles Frances M FM Jansen van Rensburg Melissa J MJ Dingle Kate E KE Waldenström Jonas J Maiden Martin C J MC

Environmental microbiology reports 20150908 5

The contribution of wild birds as a source of human campylobacteriosis was investigated in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom (UK) over a 10 year period. The probable origin of human Campylobacter jejuni genotypes, as described by multilocus sequence typing, was estimated by comparison with reference populations of isolates from farm animals and five wild bird families, using the STRUCTURE algorithm. Wild bird-attributed isolates accounted for between 476 (2.1%) and 543 (3.5%) cases annually. This prop ...[more]

PMID: 26109474

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Project description:Campylobacter jejuni is a foodborne pathogen that often leads to human infections through the consumption of contaminated poultry. Wild birds may play a role in the transmission of C. jejuni by acting as reservoir hosts. Despite ample evidence that wild birds harbor C. jejuni, few studies have addressed the role of host ecology in transmission to domestic animals or humans. We tested the hypothesis that host social behavior and habitat play a major role in driving transmission risk. C. jejuni infection and host ecology were studied simultaneously in wild American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) in Davis, CA, over 3 years. We found that 178 of 337 samples tested were culture positive (53%), with infection varying by season and host age. Among adult crows, infection rates were highest during the winter, when migrants return and crows form large communal roosts. Nestlings had the highest risk of infection, and whole-genome sequencing supports the observation of direct transmission between nestlings. We deployed global positioning system (GPS) receivers to quantify habitat use by crows; space use was nonrandom, with crows preferentially occupying some habitats while avoiding others. This behavior drastically amplified the risk of environmental contamination from feces in specific locations. This study demonstrates that social behavior contributes to infection within species and that habitat use leads to a heterogeneous risk of cross-species transmission.Campylobacter jejuni is the most common cause of gastroenteritis in industrialized countries. Despite efforts to reduce the colonization of poultry flocks and eventual infection of humans, the incidence of human C. jejuni infection has remained high. Because wild birds can harbor strains of C. jejuni that eventually infect humans, there has long been speculation that wild birds might act as an important reservoir in the C. jejuni infection cycle. We simultaneously studied infection prevalence, social behavior, and movement ecology in wild American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos). We found that social behavior contributed to patterns of infection and that movement behavior resulted in some areas having a high risk of transmission while others had a low risk. The incorporation of ecological data into studies of C. jejuni in wild birds has the potential to resolve when and how wild birds contribute to domestic animal and human C. jejuni infection, leading to better control of initial poultry contamination.

Dataset Information

Wild bird-associated Campylobacter jejuni isolates are a consistent source of human disease, in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.

Publications

Wild bird-associated Campylobacter jejuni isolates are a consistent source of human disease, in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.

Similar Datasets

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