Insects, Rodents, and Pets as Reservoirs, Vectors, and Sentinels of Antimicrobial Resistance

Abstract

This paper reviews the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in insects, rodents, and pets. Insects (e.g., houseflies, cockroaches), rodents (rats, mice), and pets (dogs, cats) act as reservoirs of AMR for first-line and last-resort antimicrobial agents. AMR proliferates in insects, rodents, and pets, and their skin and gut systems. Subsequently, insects, rodents, and pets act as vectors that disseminate AMR to humans via direct contact, human food contamination, and horizontal gene transfer. Thus, insects, rodents, and pets might act as sentinels or bioindicators of AMR. Human health risks are discussed, including those unique to low-income countries. Current evidence on human health risks is largely inferential and based on qualitative data, but comprehensive statistics based on quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) are still lacking. Hence, tracing human health risks of AMR to insects, rodents, and pets, remains a challenge. To safeguard human health, mitigation measures are proposed, based on the one-health approach. Future research should include human health risk analysis using QMRA, and the application of in-silico techniques, genomics, network analysis, and ’big data’ analytical tools to understand the role of household insects, rodents, and pets in the persistence, circulation, and health risks of AMR.

Occurrence of Multi-Drug-Resistant Escherichia coli in Chickens, Humans, Rodents and Household Soil in Karatu, Northern Tanzania

“…E. coli is a commensal microbe in humans and chickens that carries and spreads resistance genes to other pathogens [ 6 ], threatening public health. Rodents that invade human habitats carry and transmit different zoonotic pathogens including MDR E. coli, threatening human health [ 7 , 8 ]. The interaction between rodents, humans, livestock and their environment in households can facilitate sharing of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their resistance genes [ 9 ].…”

Implications of Veterinary Medicine in the comprehension and stewardship of antimicrobial resistance phenomenon. From the origin till nowadays.

“…Recently, insects have been enrolled as edible products, as alternative source of energy and the high-quality protein content. It has been demonstrated that cockroaches, houseflies, ants, and mosquitoes can harbor AMR ( Gwenzi et al., 2021 ). The same worrying phenomenon has been recognized for wild insects that can share habitats with humans and can carry on AMR from environment to humans ( Gwenzi et al., 2021 ).…”

“…Antibiotics are very often used in the clinical practice of companion animals, considering that the number of pets has been growing substantially over the last decades and people asks for the same level of care and cure expected for a family member ( Guardabassi, 2004 ; Singleton et al., 2017 ; Singleton et al., 2020 ). They represent a crucial point in the transmission of AMR through direct contact, bites, scratches, and licks and considering that they share lifestyles, habits, and spaces with their owners ( Bandyopadhyay and Samanta, 2020 ; Gwenzi et al., 2021 ; Pomba et al., 2017 ; Singleton et al., 2020 ). As previously established for other sources, also the indiscriminate use or over-usage of antibiotics over the past years has greatly enhanced the AMR, resulting in strong selective pressure with reduced sensitivity or acquisition of resistance to several antimicrobial families at the same time ( Aworh et al., 2019 ; Damborg et al., 2016 ).…”

Antimicrobial resistance: causes, consequences, diagnostic and therapeutic challenges in modern medicine

“…Znacznie rzadziej badane są natomiast inne bezkręgowce, jak np. mrówki czy pszczoły (13). W świetle doniesień z ostatnich lat, zwierzęta wolno żyjące wydają się najbardziej interesującą grupą pod względem obecności zarówno patogenów zoonotycznych, jak i specyficznych typów drobnoustrojów lekoopornych.…”