Characterization of Campylobacter jejuni in large-billed crows (Corvus macrorhynchos) in Tochigi prefecture, Japan

As free-living crows are a potential source of Campylobacter infections in broilers and cattle, we characterized Campylobacter spp. isolated from crows using multilocus sequence typing and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. We obtained 82 samples from 27 birds captured at seven different times using a trap set in Tochigi prefecture, Japan. Campylobacter jejuni was isolated from 55 (67.1%) of the 82 samples and classified into 29 sequence types, of which 21 were novel. Tetracycline and streptomycin resistance rates were 18.2% and 3.6%, respectively. These results show that most types of C. jejuni infecting crows differ from those isolated from humans, broilers, and cattle. Thus, the importance of free-living crows as reservoirs of Campylobacter infections in broilers and cattle may be limited.