This is nothing new, as many studies have found pathogens in wild bird poop including Campylobacter and Salmonella. One study showed that Salmonella can grow in goose poop and be present after one month. Another study collected bird dropping from a playground and from that suggested "that feces from wild birds in playgrounds could contribute to the occurrence of campylobacteriosis in preschool children"
Something to think about as you see that stain on your car, outdoor furniture, or kid's playset.
Science Daily
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160604050954.htm
Crowds of crows spread C. jejuni: Are humans vulnerable?
FULL STORY
Crows are smart, highly social animals that congregate in flocks of tens of thousands. Such large, highly concentrated populations can easily spread disease -- not only amongst their own species, but quite possibly to humans, either via livestock, or directly. On the campus of the University of California, Davis, during winter, approximately half of the 6,000 American crows that congregated at the study site carried Campylobacter jejuni, which is the leading cause of gastroenteritis in humans in industrialized countries, which could contribute to the spread of disease. The research is published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
The investigators posited that the crows' daily wanderings contributed to C. jejuni's spread. To track the crows, they trapped a small number of individuals and attached tiny GPS devices to diminutive backpacks. They affixed these to the birds with harnesses that looped around each wing to attach at the breast. The additional weight represented less than one twentieth that of the crows.
The crows' favored destinations were areas with easy access to food, such as a dairy barn, and a primate research center. "This movement pattern, coupled with high infection rates, suggests that crows could play an important role in transmission from wild birds to domestic animals and, ultimately, to humans," said first author Conor Taff, PhD.
Avian Diseases
Vol. 44, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 2000), pp. 715-720
Determination of the Incidence of Salmonella spp., Campylobacter jejuni, and Clostridium perfringens in Wild Birds near Broiler Chicken Houses by Sampling Intestinal Droppings
S. E. Craven, N. J. Stern, E. Line, J. S. Bailey, N. A. Cox and P. Fedorka-Cray
Appl. Environ. Microbiol. February 2009 vol. 75 no. 3 779-783
http://aem.asm.org/content/75/3/779.short
Molecular Epidemiology of Campylobacter jejuni Isolates from Wild-Bird Fecal Material in Children's Playgrounds▿
Nigel P. French1,*, Anne Midwinter1, Barbara Holland2, Julie Collins-Emerson1, Rebecca Pattison1,
Frances Colles3 and Philip Carter4
+ Author Affiliations
1Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
2Institute of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
3The Peter Medawar Building and Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, United Kingdom OX1 3SY
4Institute for Environmental Science and Research, Kenepuru Science Centre, Porirua, New Zealand
ABSTRACT
In many countries relatively high notification rates of campylobacteriosis are observed in children under 5 years of age. Few studies have considered the role that environmental exposure plays in the epidemiology of these cases. Wild birds inhabit parks and playgrounds and are recognized carriers of Campylobacter, and young children are at greater risk of ingesting infective material due to their frequent hand-mouth contact. We investigated wild-bird fecal contamination in playgrounds in parks in a New Zealand city. A total of 192 samples of fresh and dried fecal material were cultured to determine the presence of Campylobacter spp. Campylobacter jejuni isolates were also characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and the profiles obtained were compared with those of human isolates. C. jejuni was isolated from 12.5% of the samples. MLST identified members of clonal complexes ST-45, ST-682, and ST-177; all of these complexes have been recovered from wild birds in Europe. PFGE of ST-45 isolates resulted in profiles indistinguishable from those of isolated obtained from human cases in New Zealand. Members of the ST-177 and ST-682 complexes have been found in starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in the United Kingdom, and these birds were common in playgrounds investigated in New Zealand in this study. We suggest that feces from wild birds in playgrounds could contribute to the occurrence of campylobacteriosis in preschool children. Further, the C. jejuni isolates obtained in this study belonged to clonal complexes associated with wild-bird populations in the northern hemisphere and could have been introduced into New Zealand in imported wild garden birds in the 19th century.
.
Perspectives in Public Health
Date:June 4, 2016
Source:American Society for Microbiology
Summary:
Large, highly concentrated populations of crows can easily spread disease -- not only among their own species, but quite possibly to humans, either via livestock, or directly. During winter, approximately half of the 6,000 American crows that congregated at the study site carried Campylobacter jejuni, which is the leading cause of gastroenteritis in humans in industrialized countries.
FULL STORY
Crows are smart, highly social animals that congregate in flocks of tens of thousands. Such large, highly concentrated populations can easily spread disease -- not only amongst their own species, but quite possibly to humans, either via livestock, or directly. On the campus of the University of California, Davis, during winter, approximately half of the 6,000 American crows that congregated at the study site carried Campylobacter jejuni, which is the leading cause of gastroenteritis in humans in industrialized countries, which could contribute to the spread of disease. The research is published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
The investigators posited that the crows' daily wanderings contributed to C. jejuni's spread. To track the crows, they trapped a small number of individuals and attached tiny GPS devices to diminutive backpacks. They affixed these to the birds with harnesses that looped around each wing to attach at the breast. The additional weight represented less than one twentieth that of the crows.
The crows' favored destinations were areas with easy access to food, such as a dairy barn, and a primate research center. "This movement pattern, coupled with high infection rates, suggests that crows could play an important role in transmission from wild birds to domestic animals and, ultimately, to humans," said first author Conor Taff, PhD.
Avian Diseases
Vol. 44, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 2000), pp. 715-720
Determination of the Incidence of Salmonella spp., Campylobacter jejuni, and Clostridium perfringens in Wild Birds near Broiler Chicken Houses by Sampling Intestinal Droppings
S. E. Craven, N. J. Stern, E. Line, J. S. Bailey, N. A. Cox and P. Fedorka-Cray
Appl. Environ. Microbiol. February 2009 vol. 75 no. 3 779-783
http://aem.asm.org/content/75/3/779.short
Molecular Epidemiology of Campylobacter jejuni Isolates from Wild-Bird Fecal Material in Children's Playgrounds▿
Nigel P. French1,*, Anne Midwinter1, Barbara Holland2, Julie Collins-Emerson1, Rebecca Pattison1,
Frances Colles3 and Philip Carter4
+ Author Affiliations
1Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
2Institute of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
3The Peter Medawar Building and Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, United Kingdom OX1 3SY
4Institute for Environmental Science and Research, Kenepuru Science Centre, Porirua, New Zealand
ABSTRACT
In many countries relatively high notification rates of campylobacteriosis are observed in children under 5 years of age. Few studies have considered the role that environmental exposure plays in the epidemiology of these cases. Wild birds inhabit parks and playgrounds and are recognized carriers of Campylobacter, and young children are at greater risk of ingesting infective material due to their frequent hand-mouth contact. We investigated wild-bird fecal contamination in playgrounds in parks in a New Zealand city. A total of 192 samples of fresh and dried fecal material were cultured to determine the presence of Campylobacter spp. Campylobacter jejuni isolates were also characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and the profiles obtained were compared with those of human isolates. C. jejuni was isolated from 12.5% of the samples. MLST identified members of clonal complexes ST-45, ST-682, and ST-177; all of these complexes have been recovered from wild birds in Europe. PFGE of ST-45 isolates resulted in profiles indistinguishable from those of isolated obtained from human cases in New Zealand. Members of the ST-177 and ST-682 complexes have been found in starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in the United Kingdom, and these birds were common in playgrounds investigated in New Zealand in this study. We suggest that feces from wild birds in playgrounds could contribute to the occurrence of campylobacteriosis in preschool children. Further, the C. jejuni isolates obtained in this study belonged to clonal complexes associated with wild-bird populations in the northern hemisphere and could have been introduced into New Zealand in imported wild garden birds in the 19th century.
.
Perspectives in Public Health
September 1999 vol. 119 no. 3 146-155
http://rsh.sagepub.com/content/119/3/146.short
Canada goose (Branta canadensis) droppings as a potential source of pathogenic bacteria
Canada goose (Branta canadensis) droppings as a potential source of pathogenic bacteria
C.J. Feare
Department of Pure and Applied Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT and WildWings Bird Management, 2 North View Cottages, Grayswood Common, Haslemere, Surrey GU27 2DN, UK
M.F. Sanders
Central Science Laboratory (MAFF), Sand Hutton, York Y04 1LZ
R. Blasco
Central Science Laboratory (MAFF), Sand Hutton, York Y04 1LZ
J.D. Bishop
Central Science Laboratory (MAFF), Sand Hutton, York Y04 1LZ
Abstract
Canada goose droppings, collected in parks to which the public had access, were screened for a range of bacteria that could be pathogenic in man. Droppings of Canada geese, and other waterfowl, did contain such bacteria, including some that are well-known causes of illness in man. These bacteria, plus a species of Salmonella that was experimentally inoculated into droppings, were shown to survive and multiply in the droppings for up to one month after their deposition by geese. Canada geese ranged further from water than other waterfowl species and thus distributed their droppings over a larger area of park grassland. This more widespread distribution of their droppings leads Canada geese to pose a greater potential health risk than other waterfowl studied here, but variations in human responses to challenge with bacteria, and variations in human and waterfowl behaviour in public parks, renders quantification of this risk impossible.
Department of Pure and Applied Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT and WildWings Bird Management, 2 North View Cottages, Grayswood Common, Haslemere, Surrey GU27 2DN, UK
M.F. Sanders
Central Science Laboratory (MAFF), Sand Hutton, York Y04 1LZ
R. Blasco
Central Science Laboratory (MAFF), Sand Hutton, York Y04 1LZ
J.D. Bishop
Central Science Laboratory (MAFF), Sand Hutton, York Y04 1LZ
Abstract
Canada goose droppings, collected in parks to which the public had access, were screened for a range of bacteria that could be pathogenic in man. Droppings of Canada geese, and other waterfowl, did contain such bacteria, including some that are well-known causes of illness in man. These bacteria, plus a species of Salmonella that was experimentally inoculated into droppings, were shown to survive and multiply in the droppings for up to one month after their deposition by geese. Canada geese ranged further from water than other waterfowl species and thus distributed their droppings over a larger area of park grassland. This more widespread distribution of their droppings leads Canada geese to pose a greater potential health risk than other waterfowl studied here, but variations in human responses to challenge with bacteria, and variations in human and waterfowl behaviour in public parks, renders quantification of this risk impossible.
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