Survey for Bacteria and Antimicrobial Resistance in Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) in Ontario, Canada

SUMMARY Since being successfully reintroduced into Ontario, Canada, wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) populations have undergone robust growth and range expansion. This, along with increases in land use changes from human population growth and subsequent developments in agriculture and livestock production, has heightened opportunities for interactions between wild turkeys, domestic poultry, and humans. As conspecifics, wild and domestic turkeys are susceptible to infection and disease from many of the same pathogens. Thus, transmission by direct or indirect contact is a potential health threat to both groups, particularly with the overlapping range of wild turkeys in Ontario with numerous commercial and backyard poultry operations. However, these threats are difficult to assess due to knowledge gaps in the prevalence and geographic distribution of potential pathogens circulating among wild turkeys. We assessed for potentially pathogenic bacteria in free-ranging, hunter-harvested wild turkeys in Ontario (...