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Epidemiology of Campylobacter, Salmonella and antimicrobial resistant Escherichia coli in free‐living Canada geese (Branta canadensis) from three sources in southern Ontario

Antimicrobial resistant bacteria and zoonotic pathogens have previously been isolated from Canada geese. We examined the prevalence of three enteric bacteria (i.e. Campylobacter, Salmonella, Escherichia coli) among Canada geese from three sampling sources in southern Ontario from 2013 through 2015. Samples were obtained by convenience from hunting groups, diagnostic birds submitted for post‐mortem, and fresh faeces from live birds in parks. Escherichia coli isolates were isolated and tested for susceptibility to 15 antimicrobials using the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance test panel. The prevalences of Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli were 0%, 11.2% and 72.6%, respectively. Among E. coli isolates, 7.9% were resistant to ≥1 class of antimicrobials and 5.6% were resistant to ≥2 classes of antimicrobials, with some including resistance to antimicrobials of highest importance in human medicine. A significant association between season and E. coli resistance among samples from live birds was noted; summer samples had no resistant E. coli isolates, whereas spring samples demonstrated the highest prevalence of E. coli resistant to ≥1 class of antimicrobials (20.0%) among all sources. In addition, Campylobacter coli were only isolated from the spring faecal samples. Flock‐level clustering was an important statistical consideration, as flock was a significant random effect in all but two of our models. Detection of Campylobacter and antimicrobial resistant E. coli from Canada geese suggests that these birds may play a role in disseminating these organisms within the environment.