Antimicrobial resistance spreading rapidly through wild bird populations
28 June 2018
Bacteria which are resistant to multiple antimicrobials have been found in wildlife populations, and they are spreading this resistance on to susceptible bacteria.
The rise of bacteria resistant to antimicrobials is an issue of growing concern. Some bacteria are capable of surviving and multiplying, even when treated using several antimicrobials.
According to researchers, antimicrobial resistance is rapidly spreading through bacteria in wild bird populations via plasmids. These resistant bacteria are then spread even further when the birds migrate.
Plasmids are circles of DNA and are used by bacteria to pass on useful traits. Researchers have found plasmids which confer resistance to multiple antimicrobial drugs. The plasmids are passed between bacteria within a population, resulting in a higher proportion becoming resistant to antimicrobials.
Resistance to several important antimicrobials, including cephalosporins and carbapenems, has been found in wild animal populations worldwide. These broad-spectrum antimicrobials are important in treating infections such as meningitis and septicaemia.
Resistant bacteria enter the environment in wastewater and sewage and usually originate from hospitals and livestock. These resistant bacteria are then carried by wildlife and pass on resistance to other bacteria.
The presence of these resistant bacteria in wild animals can be an indicator of environmental pollution, according to Professor Monika Dolejska, Senior Researcher at Masaryk University, Czech Republic.
Professor Dolejska will discuss the risk of plasmid-mediated resistance spreading through wild birds at the Microbiology Society’s Focused Meeting: Emerging Zoonoses and AMR: A Global Threat.
Her talk, Plasmid-mediated resistance is going wild, will take place at 9:25 on 2 July, at the School of Veterinary Medicine, Surrey.
Image: Thinkstock/robvanhal.
