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. 2023 Aug 1;65(1):36.
doi: 10.1186/s13028-023-00698-7.

Prevalence and genotype diversity of Campylobacter jejuni in hunted reared pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) in Finland

Rauni Kivistö  1 , Mikaela Sauvala  2 , Maria Fredriksson-Ahomaa  2 , Johanna Björkroth  2
Affiliations

Prevalence and genotype diversity of Campylobacter jejuni in hunted reared pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) in Finland

Rauni Kivistö et al. Acta Vet Scand. .

Abstract

Campylobacter spp., especially C. jejuni, is the most common zoonotic pathogen in humans worldwide. In Nordic countries, the prevalence of C. jejuni in broilers, which is an important reservoir of human infections, is generally low. Thus, other sources of domestically acquired infections besides chicken meat need to be considered. Game birds are known to carry a variety of zoonotic agents, including Campylobacter. The aim of this study was to investigate Campylobacter spp. carriage in a flock of reared pheasants at hunting in two successive samplings to better understand the dynamics of Campylobacter infections in pheasants. Overall, 72% of the intestinal samples were positive for Campylobacter spp. by direct culture on mCCDA. C. jejuni was the only species identified. The isolates were genotyped using whole genome sequencing (WGS), multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and ad hoc whole genome MLST (wgMLST). Two distinct C. jejuni clones were identified among the 18 isolates studied, representing MLST sequence types (STs) ST-45 and ST-699. The ST-45 isolates were closely related to previous human clinical isolates using core genome MLST (cgMLST). In contrast, the ST-699 isolates forming the dominant clone in the latter sampling were quite distinct from previously described cgMLST profiles from different hosts and sources worldwide. In conclusion, the intestine of reared pheasants is commonly colonized by C. jejuni and may carry genotypes relevant to infections in livestock and humans. Hygienic measures are needed to limit the spread of infection in reared flocks. Especially farmers and hunters having direct contact with pheasant offal need to be aware of the associated zoonosis risk to protect themselves and their working dogs alike. Biosecurity measures to improve the safety and reduce the zoonosis risk associated with pheasant farming should be further investigated.

Keywords: C. jejuni; Campylobacteriosis; Game bird; Hunting; One Health; Pathogen; Poultry; Wild bird; Zoonosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Minimum spanning tree (MST) results of ad hoc wgMLST analysis of the pheasant C. jejuni isolates. Panels A and B show MSTs of ST-45 (1709 shared loci) and ST-699 (1733 shared loci), respectively. The numbers on the branches indicate pairwise allelic distances between each node of the tree
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