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Antimicrobial-resistant Bacteria Were Found in Little Stints and Shared Waters in Kenya

Little stint standing in shallow wetland habitat at Marievale Nature Reserve, South Africa
Research · Disease, parasites & microbiology

Wild little stints (Calidris minuta) wintering at Lakes Bogoria and Magadi in Kenya carried antimicrobial-resistant bacteria similar to those recovered from surrounding water sources shared by birds, people and livestock. A study published in March 2026 analysed 184 faecal or cloacal samples from little stints and 48 water samples collected when the birds arrived from the Arctic in October 2021 and before their northward departure in April 2022.

The researchers recovered 294 bacterial isolates representing 16 genera and 33 species. Bird samples produced 233 isolates and water samples 61. Enterobacter species were most frequent, accounting for 91 isolates, followed by Escherichia coli with 51. Of all isolates, 38 (12.9%) were multidrug resistant, meaning resistance extended across at least three antimicrobial classes. Another 37 (12.6%) combined multidrug resistance with an extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) phenotype, while 19 (6.5%) were ESBL producers without meeting the multidrug-resistance definition. ESBLs are enzymes that can break down several important beta-lactam antibiotics and make them ineffective.

Ampicillin resistance was most common

Resistance was most frequent to ampicillin, detected in 50% of isolates, followed by amoxicillin–clavulanic acid at 36.4% and tetracycline at 32.7%. Resistance to meropenem, a last-resort carbapenem antibiotic, was low at 1.0%. Overall resistance frequencies did not show a clear difference between Little Stint and water isolates, between the more human-influenced Lake Magadi and less disturbed Lake Bogoria, or between the arrival and pre-departure sampling periods.

The authors interpret the occurrence of resistant bacteria in both birds and freshwater sources as evidence that these aquatic environments can act as interfaces for antimicrobial resistance. They describe Little Stints as useful sentinels for environmental AMR and potential participants in its wider movement through migration. The study did not include whole-genome sequencing, however, so the authors could not determine whether particular bacterial strains or resistance genes had moved between birds, water or other sources.

Sources and image credit

  1. Mbuthia, C. W., Too, R. J., Mzula, A., Imboma, T. S., Kiiru, J., Kariuki, S., & Hoza, A. S. (2026). A One Health assessment of antimicrobial-resistant Enterobacterales in migratory little stints (Calidris minuta) and aquatic ecosystems in the Kenyan Rift Valley. PLOS ONE, 21(3), e0336315. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0336315Primary open-access research article published 27 March 2026. Researchers collected 184 faecal/cloacal samples from wild Little Stints and 48 water samples at Lakes Bogoria and Magadi. They recovered 294 bacterial isolates; 38 were MDR, 37 co-expressed ESBL-MDR traits and 19 were ESBL-only. Median resistance frequencies did not differ significantly between bird and water isolates, the two lakes or sampling cohorts. The authors note that absence of whole-genome sequencing prevented definitive source tracing.

Image: Derek Keats / Wikimedia Commons / Flickr — wild Little Stint at Marievale Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa; representative image · CC BY 2.0 · Source

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