Environmental Spread of Antibiotic Resistance

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance represents a global health concern. Soil, water, livestock and plant foods are directly or indirectly exposed to antibiotics due to their agricultural use or contamination. This selective pressure has acted synergistically to bacterial competition in nature to breed antibiotic-resistant (AR) bacteria. Research over the past few decades has focused on the emergence of AR pathogens in food products that can cause disease outbreaks and the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), but One Health approaches have lately expanded the focus to include commensal bacteria as ARG donors. Despite the attempts of national and international authorities of developed and developing countries to reduce the over-prescription of antibiotics to humans and the use of antibiotics as livestock growth promoters, the selective flow of antibiotic resistance transmission from the environment to the clinic (and vice-versa) is increasing. This review focuses on the mechanisms of ARG transmission and the hotspots of antibiotic contamination resulting in the subsequent emergence of ARGs. It follows the transmission of ARGs from farm to plant and animal food products and provides examples of the impact of ARG flow to clinical settings. Understudied and emerging antibiotic resistance selection determinants, such as heavy metal and biocide contamination, are also discussed here.

Occurrence of Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase (ESBL) Producers, Quinolone and Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacteriaceae Isolated from Environmental Samples along Msimbazi River Basin Ecosystem in Tanzania

“…Overall, K. pneumoniae isolates were more resistant in effluent compared to the E. coli isolates which had higher resistance in river water, river sediment and crop soil. Both the K. pneumoniae and E. coli organisms are widely distributed in the community and wastewater settings and can easily acquire multiple resistance mechanisms as previously reported [26,[34][35][36][37][38][39]. The levels of resistance to the tested antibiotics were higher in nalidixic acid (54.6%) and ciprofloxacin (39.7%) for K. pneumoniae and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (38%) for E. coli, probably due to extensive use of these drugs in both animals and humans, uncontrolled disposal of drug leftovers and discharge of effluent into the environment and water bodies [23,40,41].…”

Waterborne Isolates of Campylobacter jejuni Are Able to Develop Aerotolerance, Survive Exposure to Low Temperature, and Interact With Acanthamoeba polyphaga

“…to antibiotics has been reported in several countries, including the Czechia ( Serichantalergs et al, 2007 ; Bardon et al, 2009 ). Factors contributing to this increase could include the veterinary use of antibiotics as prophylaxis or for the treatment of animal diseases ( Skandalis et al, 2021 ). In our study, more than half of the isolates (64.3%, 9/14) were resistant to at least one of the tested antibiotics, usually CIP.…”

Efflux Pump Mediated Antimicrobial Resistance by Staphylococci in Health-Related Environments: Challenges and the Quest for Inhibition

“…The spread of resistant bacteria from the clinic to the environment (and vice-versa) is increasing [ 8 ], causing a growing and worrying threat to public health worldwide. According to the ‘One Health’ concept, the health of humans, animals and the environment is interconnected and the spread of AMR in any of these domains poses a risk to human health.…”