Antibiotics usage practices in aquaculture in Bangladesh and their associated factors

Unseen Weapons: Bacterial Extracellular Vesicles and the Spread of Antibiotic Resistance in Aquatic Environments

“…Antibiotic use in aquaculture serves multiple purposes, including disease prevention, growth promotion, and water quality management. Disease prevention and treatment are vital in densely stocked aquaculture systems, where antibiotics are used to control bacterial infections [ 9 ]. Prophylactic antibiotic use helps mitigate known risks during activities like transportation or stocking.…”

Bacteriophage and non-pathogenic Vibrio to control diseases in shrimp aquaculture

“…The use of antibiotics in shrimp aquaculture can pose potential threats to both human health and the environment [ 12 ]. Residual antibiotics in the food system can be a concern, as they may enter the human food chain and contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance [ 13 ].…”

“…Residual antibiotics in the food system can be a concern, as they may enter the human food chain and contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance [ 13 ]. The use of antibiotics in aquaculture is widespread, with 36 different antibiotics being used in seven major aquaculture-producing countries [ 12 ]. In hatcheries, antibiotics are often used to control diseases.…”

Metagenomic assessment of the diversity and ubiquity of antimicrobial resistance genes in Bangladeshi aquaculture ponds

“…The socioeconomic drivers of antibiotic overuse in Bangladesh fisheries are complex and multifactorial, with farmers facing challenges from increasing disease burden, low and unpredictable market prices, poor source water quality and little access to training on sustainable practices and disease management (Abu Kawsar et al, 2019). Antibiotics may enter pond environments through a variety of sources, notably from the suspected (now illegal) use of antibiotics in commercial fish feeds (Chowdhury et al, 2022;Hasan et al, 2022) and/or prophylactically, where they are added to prevent spoiling, or through contamination of pond water with antibiotic-treated human and animal waste from the wider pond environment (Chowdhury et al, 2021b). Antibiotics are cheap and readily available over the counter without a prescription in Bangladesh (Rousham et al, 2019;Schar et al, 2020), and reports suggest that they are commonly applied to ponds at doses higher than those recommended and without completion of the full course of treatment to treat diseases (Abu Kawsar et al, 2019;Ali et al, 2016;Jahan et al, 2015), factors that are associated with the development of AMR (Fair and Tor, 2014).…”

“…However, there is no legislation in place regulating the use of veterinary drugs in aquaculture (FAO, 2022). In a major farm survey, 71% of farmers reported using antibiotics during the production cycle with the most common antibiotics being oxytetracycline, ciprofloxacin and amoxicillin for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes (Chowdhury et al, 2022). These factors, combined with poor diagnostics, limited veterinary services and lack of enforced regulation on antibiotic usage have been highlighted as major causes of reduced antibiotic efficacy in fish ponds (Iskandar et al, 2020).…”