Antibiotic Usage and Resistance in Food Animal Production: What Have We Learned from Bangladesh?

Abstract

Irrational and inappropriate use of antibiotics in commercial chicken and aquaculture industries can accelerate the antibiotic resistance process in humans and animals. In Bangladesh, the growing commercial chicken and aquaculture industries are playing significantly important roles in the food value chain. It is necessary to know the antibiotic usage practices and antibiotic resistance in food animal production to design rational policies, guidelines, and interventions. We conducted a narrative review to understand the level of antibiotic usage and resistance in food animal production in Bangladesh. Information about antibiotic usage in different food animal production systems, including commercial chickens and aquaculture in Bangladesh is inadequate. Only a few small-scale studies reported that the majority (up to 100%) of the broiler and layer chicken farms used antibiotics for treating and preventing diseases. However, numerous studies reported antibiotic-resistant bacteria of public health importance in commercial chicken, fish, livestock, and animal origin food. The isolates from different pathogenic bacteria were found resistant against multiple antibiotics, including quinolones, the third or fourth generation of cephalosporins, and polymyxins. Veterinary practitioners empirically treat animals with antibiotics based on presumptive diagnosis due to inadequate microbial diagnostic facilities in Bangladesh. Intensive training is helpful to raise awareness among farmers, feed dealers, and drug sellers on good farming practices, standard biosecurity practices, personal hygiene, and the prudent use of antibiotics. Urgently, the Government of Bangladesh should develop and implement necessary guidelines to mitigate irrational use of antibiotics in food animals using a multi-sectoral One Health approach.

A Review of Current Bacterial Resistance to Antibiotics in Food Animals

“… Sharma et al (2020) investigated antibiotic use and animal health management in smallholder dairy farms in four urban and peri-urban areas of India and found that the knowledge level and practices related to antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance can potentially increase the risk of resistance antibiotic development and its transfer in the community, which is a major global public health threat. Unregulated or inappropriate antibiotic use in animal farms and using different types of antibiotics at the same time are still common practices in developing countries ( Gebeyehu et al, 2015 ; Chowdhury et al, 2021 ; Geta and Kibret, 2021 ). In a survey of small-scale farms in Thailand, 57.1% of farmers reported the use of antibiotics for prevention ( Lekagul et al, 2020 ).…”

Antimicrobial Resistance in Aquaculture Environments: Unravelling the Complexity and Connectivity of the Underlying Societal Drivers

“…Regulations on antibiotic usage in Bangladesh aquaculture do exist but are very limited. They are poorly implemented due to insufficient monitoring and surveillance, poor institutional resource capacity (in particular staffing), and poor regulatory control on aggressive and irrational marketing. , A 2020 policy from the Government’s Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock banned antibiotic use in food production, with the exception of oxytetracycline and sulfadiazine which are allowed under prescription . In our social data set, only one farmer could name the antibiotics that are approved for aquaculture use, and none of the farmers kept records of drug use.…”

Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA in Livestock: Antimicrobial Resistance and Genetic Lineages

“…In low-middle-income countries, antimicrobials are frequently used as prophylactic drugs in animal production. Because of the easy access to these medicines and their non-restricted use, antimicrobial consumption in the animal production system almost double human consumption [ 42 ]. In developing countries unqualified animal healthcare providers play a significant role in this problematic situation [ 42 ].…”