title: Bacterial flora of free-living double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) chicks on Prince Edward Island, Canada, with reference to enteric bacteria and antibiotic resistance.
abstract: Cloacal and pharyngeal swabs from 100 tree-nesting Double-crested cormorant (DCC) chicks were examined by culture for commensal and potentially pathogenic bacteria. No Salmonella or Erysipelothrix were isolated from the cloacal swabs. Twenty-two cloacal swabs were positive for Campylobacter, of which 14 were C. jejuni, C. coli, and 1 C. lari. None belonged to common serotypes isolated from humans or animals in recent years in Canada. Tests for antimicrobial drug resistance among 187 commensal Escherichia coli isolates from the cloacal swabs indicated that < or =5% were resistant to any of the 12 antibiotics tested. This contrasts with the frequently high resistance rates among E. coli isolates from poultry. Pharyngeal swabs from DCC were negative for Pasteurella multocida. Culture of cloacal swabs from 100 ground-nesting DCC chicks resulted in the recovery of 19 Salmonella isolates, all of which were S. enterica serotype Typhimurium. None of these isolates were resistant to any of the 12 antibiotics tested. Altogether, these findings suggest that DCC from this region are not being colonized with commensal or potentially pathogenic enteric bacteria from agricultural or human sources and that enteric bacteria isolated from these birds are unlikely to contribute to a gene pool of antimicrobial drug resistance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada C1A 4P3.
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dobbin
authors.forename: Harry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hariharan
authors.forename: Pierre-Yves
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Daoust
authors.forename: Shebel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hariharan
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heaney
authors.forename: Mada
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coles
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anne Muckle
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001717:Birds / Q000382:microbiology*; D002988:Cloaca / Q000382:microbiology*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D010614:Pharynx / Q000382:microbiology*; D011325:Prince Edward Island
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents