Agriculture and food animals as a source of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria

Abstract

One of the major breakthroughs in the history of medicine is undoubtedly the discovery of antibiotics. Their use in animal husbandry and veterinary medicine has resulted in healthier and more productive farm animals, ensuring the welfare and health of both animals and humans. Unfortunately, from the first use of penicillin, the resistance countdown started to tick. Nowadays, the infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria are increasing, and resistance to antibiotics is probably the major public health problem. Antibiotic use in farm animals has been criticized for contributing to the emergence of resistance. The use and misuse of antibiotics in farm animal settings as growth promoters or as nonspecific means of infection prevention and treatment has boosted antibiotic consumption and resistance among bacteria in the animal habitat. This reservoir of resistance can be transmitted directly or indirectly to humans through food consumption and direct or indirect contact. Resistant bacteria can cause serious health effects directly or via the transmission of the antibiotic resistance traits to pathogens, causing illnesses that are difficult to treat and that therefore have higher morbidity and mortality rates. In addition, the selection and proliferation of antibiotic-resistant strains can be disseminated to the environment via animal waste, enhancing the resistance reservoir that exists in the environmental microbiome. In this review, an effort is made to highlight the various factors that contribute to the emergence of antibiotic resistance in farm animals and to provide some insights into possible solutions to this major health issue.

Physico-Chemical Properties and Microbiological Quality of Borehole Water in Four Crowded Areas of Benin City, Nigeria, During Rainfalls

“…The presence of AMR bacteria in borehole water has been attributed to the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, especially in animal husbandry, coupled with human practices, such as improper sanitation and discharge of human wastes in the environment (8,41). These result in the creation of ecological niches, which serve as pools of resistance, to which bacteria can pick up antimicrobial resistance genes (41). Meanwhile, most of the bacterial isolates in this study showed multidrug resistance to at least six antibiotics.…”

“…In one such study, Ateba et al reported the presence of isolates that were resistant to chloramphenicol, vancomycin, oxytetracycline, amoxicillin, erythromycin, and sulfamethoxazole (8). The presence of AMR bacteria in borehole water has been attributed to the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, especially in animal husbandry, coupled with human practices, such as improper sanitation and discharge of human wastes in the environment (8,41). These result in the creation of ecological niches, which serve as pools of resistance, to which bacteria can pick up antimicrobial resistance genes (41).…”

Ecological and Public Health Implications of the Discharge of Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria and Physicochemical Contaminants from Treated Wastewater Effluents in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

“…Some diseases that were previously considered dreadful for centuries have been successfully treated or controlled by means of antibiotics [8]. In addition, antibiotics have also been used extensively at subtherapeutic levels as growth promoter/feed enhancer in livestock farming, most especially in the industrialised nations, including many European countries and the United States of America [9][10][11][12]. However, the spontaneous emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance, coupled with diminished numbers of novel antibiotics, has threatened the feat of antibiotics in modern medicine, and induced the fear of a possible post-antibiotic era [13].…”

Recovery and prevalence of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella from fresh goat meat in Arusha, Tanzania

“…Use of antibiotics in food-animal agriculture is thought to contribute to the emergence and amplification of antibiotic-resistant strains of Salmonella (Economou and Gousia, 2015). Although, several published reports illustrate how antibiotic-resistant (ABR) bacteria isolated from food animals overlaps with those causing human infection including foodborne illness (Li et al, 2013;Marshall and Levy, 2011), non-overlap trends of antibiotic resistance infections between humans and animals are also reported (Mather et al, 2012).…”

“…Meat, including goat meat, is an important source of protein but also can serve as a potential source of foodborne pathogens (Economou and Gousia, 2015).…”