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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2009, p. 779-783, Vol. 75, No. 3
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01979-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Molecular Epidemiology of Campylobacter jejuni Isolates from Wild-Bird Fecal Material in Children's Playgrounds{triangledown}

Nigel P. French,1* Anne Midwinter,1 Barbara Holland,2 Julie Collins-Emerson,1 Rebecca Pattison,1 Frances Colles,3 and Philip Carter4

Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand,1 Institute of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand,2 The Peter Medawar Building and Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, United Kingdom OX1 3SY,3 Institute for Environmental Science and Research, Kenepuru Science Centre, Porirua, New Zealand4

Received 26 August 2008/ Accepted 23 November 2008

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.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. Phone: 64 (06) 350 5078. Fax: 64 (06) 350 5714. E-mail: N.P.French{at}massey.ac.nz

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 1 December 2008.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2009, p. 779-783, Vol. 75, No. 3
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01979-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Carter, P. E., McTavish, S. M., Brooks, H. J. L., Campbell, D., Collins-Emerson, J. M., Midwinter, A. C., French, N. P. (2009). Novel Clonal Complexes with an Unknown Animal Reservoir Dominate Campylobacter jejuni Isolates from River Water in New Zealand. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 6038-6046 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Habib, I., Miller, W. G., Uyttendaele, M., Houf, K., De Zutter, L. (2009). Clonal Population Structure and Antimicrobial Resistance of Campylobacter jejuni in Chicken Meat from Belgium. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 4264-4272 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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