Mr. T in D.C.- American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) eating bread, themedes.org http://themedes.org/?p=605
By: Alan Garcia
Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are a group of enterococci bacteria which are part of our normal flora (gut and skin) which have developed resistance to many antibiotics including vancomycin. Harmless if under normal conditions but when antibiotic resistance is developed and if introduced and spread into bloodstream or directly into a wound they acquire the ability to cause a serious or even fatal infection! Although VRE infections are one of the most common infections acquired in healthcare settings, not many antibiotic treatments are available for treatment. A study done by a group of researchers shows the American crow as possible carriers and disperser of antibiotic resistance genes in enterococci bacteria. American crows can be migratory and can be found across North America at high densities in urban areas. This is a danger not only due to spreading of VRE into the environment but also because bacteria have the ability to transfer and spread these genes between different species including other pathogenic bacteria and the number and movement of American crows can potentially amplify this process. Fecal samples from crows were collected from roosting places around the United States. Samples were then cultured selectively for VRE and were tested for presence of vanA VRE gene, ability of horizontal transfer VRE gene, and identification of VRE bacteria present. VRE was found present in 15 out of 590 samples (2.5%) and 22 different isolates were obtained with a very high gene transfer range. Some strains were even found to have resistance to antibiotics used for treatment of VRE infections. Crows often feed from garbage dumps therefore VRE may spread by wastewater and waste from health-care facilities were antibiotic resistance is common. Future research on additional pathways of dispersion to environment and better management strategies for prevention of VRE dispersion from hospitals is greatly needed. It is everyone's job to stop the spread of "superbug" genes into the environment so don't blame the birds!
Oravcova, V., Zurek, L., Townsend, A., Clark, A. B., Ellis, J. C., Cizek, A. and Literak, I. (2014), American crows as carriers of vancomycin-resistant enterococci with vanA gene. Environmental Microbiology, 16: 939–949. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.12213
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