Prevalence and genomic characteristics of zoonotic gastro-intestinal pathogens among Swedish corvid birds

In the present study, we studied the occurrence of bacterial zoonotic pathogens as well as enterobacteria with transferrable antimicrobial resistance genes among Swedish corvids. Campylobacter jejuni was detected in 82% and Yersinia in 3% of the birds. ESBL-producing E. coli were recovered from a single sample (2%) and carried blaCTX-M-55. No Enterobacteriaceae with transferable carbapenem resistance were found. No Salmonella or E. coli O157:H7 were found. C. jejuni isolates from corvids were compared to previously published isolates from Swedish sources by multi-locus sequence typing based on genome sequences. All corvid isolates formed a cluster, intermingled with human and chicken isolates. Our results indicate that C. jejuni is ubiquitous among Swedish corvid birds, with sporadic transmission to poultry and humans.