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Antibiotic resistance in wildlife

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Antibiotic resistance in wildlife

Objectives

The aim of this project is to understand the role played by wild species in antibiotic resistant bacteria dynamics. We focus on three principal questions:

A Wood Mouse captured in the Camargue © S.Baudouin

Methodologies applied

Our work is based on summarising scientific articles and taking bacteria samples from rodents and gulls in the Camargue. To take the samples, we capture individuals and collect faecal samples from which we cultivate bacteria in environments with or without antibiotics. The bacteria are then identified and an antibiogram is generated to establish more precisely the antibiotics to which they are resistant. A genetic analysis of the strains is then conducted to determine:

Results

Knowledge of the antibiotic resistant bacteria found in wildlife is still quite limited. Data in the literature show that there is a frequency and diversity gradient in the antibiotic resistant bacteria found, ranging from the areas most heavily impacted by human activities, which are the most concerned, to the best-preserved areas. Predators and anthropophilic species are the species that most frequently carry these bacteria.

We have observed bacteria resistant to the latest generations of antibiotics (carbapenems) in Yellow-Legged Gulls (Larus michahellis), living close to human activities, but not in Slender-Billed Gulls (Chroicocephalus genei), which feed far from the coast. We are currently continuing our research on rodents to better understand the spatial distribution of antibiotic resistant bacteria in the Camargue.

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