4. Campylobacter spp. carriage in wild game pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) in Scotland and its relevance to public health

Campylobacteriosis in humans due to Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli is the most common food-borne bacterial diarrheal disease worldwide. Control measures currently focus on the reduction of Campylobacter in chickens, as 60-80% of human cases can be attributed to the poultry reservoir as a whole. However, C. jejuni and C. coli have also been reported in a range of livestock and wildlife species, including pheasants. Pheasants reach the consumer's table as a by-product of the shooting industry. Approximately 3.5 million game birds are shot in Scotland every year; however, only 700,000 are received at Scottish approved game handling establishments (AGHEs) for veterinary inspection. Despite this volume of wild game entering the food chain, there is a lack of information concerning the risk of campylobacteriosis in humans arising from consumption of wild game meat and the role wild game birds may have as a reservoir of infection. We carried out a study to determine the prevalence of Campylobacter in wild game pheasants processed in AGHEs in Scotland, identify the main sequence types (ST) present and evaluate their impact on public health. Campylobacter was found to be present in nearly 40% of the sampled birds and C. coli was found in higher numbers compared to C. jejuni. Positive caecal samples were subjected to a multiplex PCR for species identification and High Throughput Multi Locus Sequence Typing (HiMLST). The STs obtained in this study were compared to those available in PubMLST in order to assess the risk to public health and identify potential patterns of cross-transmission among livestock and pheasants. Samples that were successfully typed by HiMLST were also tested for phenotypic susceptibility to ciprofloxacin, erythromycin and tetracycline using the EUCAST disc diffusion method. The prevalence of antimicrobial resistance varied across sites, with one site being dominated by double or triple antibiotic resistance. The relevance to public health, in relation to the STs in which antimicrobial resistance was present, is currently under assessment. Our preliminary data suggest that wild game birds are a host for Campylobacter and a potential risk to humans through consumption of pheasant meat.