Exposure to bacteria in landfill sites and polluted rivers may explain prevalence among city-dwelling birds.
Urban ducks and crows might offer us a connection to nature, but scientists have found wild birds that live near humans are more likely to harbour bacteria resistant to important antibiotics.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is largely caused by the overuse of drugs such as antibiotics among humans and livestock.
The issue is of serious concern: according to data for 2019, about 4.95 million deaths globally were associated with bacterial AMR, including 1.27 million directly caused by such resistance.
Researchers say species of wild birds that tend to turn up in urban settings are reservoirs for bacteria with the hallmarks of resistance to a host of drugs.
“Basically what we’re seeing are genes that confer resistance to antimicrobials that would be used to treat human infections,” said Prof Samuel Sheppard, co-author of the research from the Ineos Oxford Institute for antimicrobial research.
The team say their findings are important as wild birds have the capacity to travel over considerable distances. Sheppard said a key concern was that these birds could pass antimicrobial-resistant bacteria to captive birds destined to be eaten by humans – such as those kept in poultry farms.