Numbers of nonmigratory Canada geese have increased substantially in the past decade, and they have become a nuisance in some urban areas. Because of their close contact with humans in parks and areas adjacent to surface waterways, contact with their feces poses a zoonotic risk. A total of 97 geese from 10 separate geographic locales in the greater Boston area had their feces sampled for detection of Helicobacter spp. Identification of Helicobacter spp. based on 16S rRNA genus-specific helicobacter primers was noted in 39 of 97 (40.2%) DNA fecal extracts. Twenty-seven (27.8%) of these geese had helicobacters isolated from their feces. A urease-positive novel species, Helicobacter anseris, based on phenotypic, biochemical, and 16S rRNA analyses, was isolated from 20 geese from seven different flocks. A second, novel, urease-negative Helicobacter sp., H. brantae, was identified in seven geese. Four geese had both novel Helicobacter spp. cultured from their feces. Whether these two novel helicobacters pose a zoonotic risk, similar to other enteric helicobacters (e.g., H. canadensis, previously isolated from diarrheic and bacteremic humans and from geese in Europe), will require further studies.The genus Helicobacter comprises a group of gram-negative, microaerophilic, spiral to curve-shaped bacteria originally isolated from the stomachs of humans and other mammals (11). The type species of the genus, Helicobacter pylori, causes chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer disease in humans and has more recently been linked to the development of gastric adenocarcinoma and gastric mucosa-associated lymphoma (3, 4, 7). Since H. pylori was first isolated in 1982, an additional 26 formally named Helicobacter spp. have been characterized. These have been cultured from a variety of hosts, most commonly the gastrointestinal tracts of mammals (11).Wild birds have been recognized for decades as reservoirs of Campylobacter spp. (8,17,22). However, it was not until H. pametensis was isolated from wild birds and named in 1994 that avian species were recognized as reservoirs of enteric helicobacters (6,19). Helicobacter pametensis was also isolated from the feces of a pig. Other helicobacters not formally named but referred to as "helicobacter bird B" and "helicobacter bird C" were also cultured from the feces of wild birds living on the coast of Massachusetts (6). Soon thereafter, H. pullorum was isolated from the intestinal tracts of chickens, diseased chicken livers, and diarrheic humans (20). Most recently, H. canadensis, first isolated from diarrheic and bacteremic patients, was cultured from the feces of Barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) and Canada geese (Branta canadensis) on the Atlantic coast of Europe (12, 21-23).Because H. canadensis was originally identified in humans and subsequently found in geese, we wanted to ascertain whether this helicobacter would also be isolated from Canada geese which frequent public waterways, parks, and golf courses (2, 8, 9). Their feces heavily contaminate those areas and could serve as a zoonoti...
