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AMR occurs when disease-causing microbes such as bacteria become resistant to antibiotics that would otherwise kill them. In the UK, an estimated 58,224 people had a severe antibiotic-resistant infection in 2022, and 2,202 died. Globally, AMR was directly responsible for an estimated 1.27 million deaths in 2019, and the World Health Organization has described it as one of the top global public health and development threats.
In a new study published this week in Current Biology (Cell Press), researchers analysed 700 samples of bacteria taken from the guts of 30 species of wild birds across 8 countries.* They looked at Campylobactor jejuni, a common diarrhoea-causing zoonotic bacteria found in birds’ gut microbiomes. Zoonotic diseases are those that can spread between animals and humans.
Using genomic analysis, they studied the diversity of C. jejuni strains, as well as the presence of genes associated with AMR. A novel statistical model was developed to study the relationship between these and various factors including bird behaviour and location.