Intestinal microflora in 45 crows in Ueno Zoo and the in vitro susceptibilities of 29 Escherichia coli isolates to 14 antimicrobial agents.

Microorganisms from 45 jungle crows (Corvus macrorhynchos) captured from July to December 2002 at Ueno Zoo, Tokyo were identified as Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Klebsiella oxytoca, Enterobacter aerogenes, Enterobacter cloacae, Enterobacter agglomerans, Pseudomonas maltophila, Staphylococcus spp., Micrococcus spp., and Streptococcus spp. E. coli showed the highest rate of isolation (21.6%). In an in vitro susceptibility test for 29 isolates of E. coli to 14 antimicrobial agents, all the isolates were resistant to penicillin G, vancomycin, erythromycin, lincomycin, bicozamycin, sulfadimethoxine, and olaquindox. Several isolates of them were also resistant to tetracycline, oxytetracycline, streptomycin, chloramphenicol, and ampicillin. Twenty-nine isolates were divided into 19 serogroups and the most frequently identified serogroups were O8, O114 and O144, which showed the same multidrug-resistant patterns.