Spatial Epidemiology of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Dairy Cattle in Relation to Night Roosts Of Sturnus vulgaris (European Starling) in Ohio, USA (2007–2009)

Abstract

The goal of our study was to use spatial scan statics to determine whether the night roosts of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) act as point sources for the dissemination of Escherichia coli O157:H7 among dairy farms. From 2007 to 2009, we collected bovine faecal samples (n = 9000) and starling gastrointestinal contents (n = 430) from 150 dairy farms in northeastern Ohio, USA. Isolates of E. coli O157:H7 recovered from these samples were subtyped using multilocus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA). Generated MLVA types were used to construct a dendrogram based on a categorical multistate coefficient and unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA). Using a focused spatial scan statistic, we identified statistically significant spatial clusters among dairy farms surrounding starling night roosts, with an increased prevalence of E. coli O157:H7-positive bovine faecal pats, increased diversity of distinguishable MLVA types and a greater number of isolates with MLVA types from bovine-starling clades versus bovine-only clades. Thus, our findings are compatible with the hypothesis that starlings have a role in the dissemination of E. coli O157:H7 among dairy farms, and further research into starling management is warranted.

Spatial Clustering of Escherichia coli with Reduced Susceptibility to Cefotaxime and Ciprofloxacin among Dairy Cattle Farms Relative to European Starling Night Roosts

“…In a previous study, using these faecal pats, Swirski et al. () identified spatial clusters of clades of E . coli O157:H7 MLVA types that shared both bovine and starling types from cattle farms with radii of 17 to 69 km (Swirski et al., ).…”

“…coli O157:H7 among cattle faecal pats on Ohio dairy farms closer to starling night roosts was significantly higher than those on farms further away, suggesting that starling night roosts act as foci for the dissemination of E . coli O157:H7 among farms (Swirski et al., ). In summer and fall, starlings leave their night roosts daily and fly to preferred livestock facilities where feed is easily accessible.…”

Geographic Divergence of Bovine and Human Shiga Toxin–ProducingEscherichia coliO157:H7 Genotypes, New Zealand1

“…For example, starlings have been implicated as biologic vectors in the dissemination of STEC among dairy farms in Ohio, United States ( 33 , 34 ), indicating that wildlife might play a key role in the epidemiology and ecology of STEC.…”

Urbanization and Disease Emergence: Dynamics at the Wildlife–Livestock–Human Interface

“…Clumping of resources occurs widely across urban environments at local (e.g., household) and landscape scales, whether as a result of variation in sanitation, refuse and agricultural byproducts, livestock-keeping practices, supplemental feeding of garden birds, or household food availability 13, 75, 76, 77, 78. Informal livestock keeping is commonplace in African cities, and often characterized by low biosecurity and mixed-species livestock being kept in close proximity to humans.…”

“…This has permitted studies to investigate community drivers of shared-parasite transmission; both VanderWaal and Atwill [98] and Blyton et al [99] found covariance between networks of shared Escherichia coli genotypes and social contacts in giraffes and possums, respectively, such that individuals that were centrally located within social networks also acted as hubs of transmission. Gene dispersal measures represent just one population genetics approach to apportioning genetic variation that occurs within and between different populations, and have been successful to inform epidemiological connectivity between humans, wildlife, and livestock 72, 77. Others have used networks to describe population-level drivers in parasite diversity; Anthony et al [100] developed network models of virus families in rhesus macaques, demonstrating that viral community assembly exhibits nonrandom patterns, which suggests that the effect of deterministic factors on viral diversity should be predictable.…”