Infectivity of Wild-Bird Origin Influenza A Viruses in Minnesota Wetlands across Seasons.

The environmental tenacity of influenza A viruses (IAVs) in the environment likely plays a role in their transmission; IAVs are able to remain infectious in aquatic habitats and may have the capacity to seed outbreaks when susceptible wild bird hosts utilize these same environments months or even seasons later. Here, we aimed to assess the persistence of low-pathogenicity IAVs from naturally infected ducks in Northwestern Minnesota through a field experiment. Viral infectivity was measured using replicate samples maintained in distilled water in a laboratory setting as well as in filtered water from four natural water bodies maintained in steel perforated drums (hereafter, mesocosms) within the field from autumn 2020 to spring 2021.

Molecular detection and characterization of highly pathogenic H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b avian influenza viruses among hunter-harvested wild birds provides evidence for three independent introductions into Alaska.

We detected and characterized highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses among hunter-harvested wild waterfowl inhabiting western Alaska during September-October 2022 using a molecular sequencing pipeline applied to RNA extracts derived directly from original swab samples. Genomic characterization of 10 H5 clade 2.3.

Exchange of Carbapenem-Resistant Escherichia coli Sequence Type 38 Intercontinentally and among Wild Bird, Human, and Environmental Niches.

Carbapenem-resistant (CRE) are a global threat to human health and are increasingly being isolated from nonclinical settings. OXA-48-producing Escherichia coli sequence type 38 (ST38) is the most frequently reported CRE type in wild birds and has been detected in gulls or storks in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The epidemiology and evolution of CRE in wildlife and human niches, however, remains unclear.

Maintenance and dissemination of avian-origin influenza A virus within the northern Atlantic Flyway of North America.

Wild waterbirds, the natural reservoirs for avian influenza viruses, undergo migratory movements each year, connecting breeding and wintering grounds within broad corridors known as flyways. In a continental or global view, the study of virus movements within and across flyways is important to understanding virus diversity, evolution, and movement. From 2015 to 2017, we sampled waterfowl from breeding (Maine) and wintering (Maryland) areas within the Atlantic Flyway (AF) along the east coast of North America to investigate the spatio-temporal trends in persistence and spread of influenza A viruses (IAV).

Genomic comparison of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae from humans and gulls in Alaska.

Objectives: Wildlife may harbour clinically important antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, but the role of wildlife in the epidemiology of antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections in humans is largely unknown. In this study, we aimed to assess dissemination of the bla carbapenemase gene among humans and gulls in Alaska.

Methods: We performed whole-genome sequencing to determine the genetic context of bla in bacterial isolates from all four human carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) infections reported in Alaska between 2013-2018 and to compare the sequences with seven previously reported CPE isolates from gull faeces within the same region and time period.

Evidence for continental-scale dispersal of antimicrobial resistant bacteria by landfill-foraging gulls.

Anthropogenic inputs into the environment may serve as sources of antimicrobial resistant bacteria and alter the ecology and population dynamics of synanthropic wild animals by providing supplemental forage. In this study, we used a combination of phenotypic and genomic approaches to characterize antimicrobial resistant indicator bacteria, animal telemetry to describe host movement patterns, and a novel modeling approach to combine information from these diverse data streams to investigate the acquisition and long-distance dispersal of antimicrobial resistant bacteria by landfill-foraging gulls. Our results provide evidence that gulls acquire antimicrobial resistant bacteria from anthropogenic sources, which they may subsequently disperse across and between continents via migratory movements.

Validation of a screening method for the detection of colistin-resistant E. coli containing mcr-1 in feral swine feces.

A method was developed and validated for the detection of colistin-resistant Escherichia coli containing mcr-1 in the feces of feral swine. Following optimization of an enrichment method using EC broth supplemented with colistin (1 μg/mL) and vancomycin (8 μg/mL), aliquots derived from 100 feral swine fecal samples were spiked with of one of five different mcr-1 positive E. coli strains (between 10 and 10 CFU/g), for a total of 1110 samples tested.

Gulls as Sources of Environmental Contamination by Colistin-resistant Bacteria.

In 2015, the mcr-1 gene was discovered in Escherichia coli in domestic swine in China that conferred resistance to colistin, an antibiotic of last resort used in treating multi-drug resistant bacterial infections in humans. Since then, mcr-1 was found in other human and animal populations, including wild gulls. Because gulls could disseminate the mcr-1 gene, we conducted an experiment to assess whether gulls are readily colonized with mcr-1 positive E.

ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT BACTERIA IN WILDLIFE: PERSPECTIVES ON TRENDS, ACQUISITION AND DISSEMINATION, DATA GAPS, AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS.

The proliferation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment has potential negative economic and health consequences. Thus, previous investigations have targeted wild animals to understand the occurrence of antibiotic resistance in diverse environmental sources. In this critical review and synthesis, we summarized important concepts learned through the sampling of wildlife for antibiotic-resistant indicator bacteria.

Early emergence of mcr-1-positive Enterobacteriaceae in gulls from Spain and Portugal.

We tested extended-spectrum β-lactamase producing bacteria from wild gulls (Larus spp.) sampled in 2009 for the presence of mcr-1. We report the detection of mcr-1 and describe genome characteristics of four Escherichia coli and one Klebsiella pneumoniae isolate from Spain and Portugal that also exhibited colistin resistance.

Satellite tracking of gulls and genomic characterization of faecal bacteria reveals environmentally mediated acquisition and dispersal of antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska.

Gulls (Larus spp.) have frequently been reported to carry Escherichia coli exhibiting antimicrobial resistance (AMR E. coli); however, the pathways governing the acquisition and dispersal of such bacteria are not well described.

Acquisition and dissemination of cephalosporin-resistant E. coli in migratory birds sampled at an Alaska landfill as inferred through genomic analysis.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacterial pathogens threatens global health, though the spread of AMR bacteria and AMR genes between humans, animals, and the environment is still largely unknown. Here, we investigated the role of wild birds in the epidemiology of AMR Escherichia coli. Using next-generation sequencing, we characterized cephalosporin-resistant E.