Last Call for Replacement of Antimicrobials in Animal Production: Modern Challenges, Opportunities, and Potential Solutions

Abstract

The constant market demand for easily available and cheap food of animal origin necessitates an increasing use of antibiotics in animal production. The alarming data provided by organizations monitoring drug resistance in indicator and pathogenic bacteria isolated from humans and animals indicate a possible risk of a return to the preantibiotic era. For this reason, it seems that both preventive and therapeutic measures, taken as an alternative to antimicrobials, seem not only advisable but also necessary. Nevertheless, the results of various studies and market analyses, as well as difficulties in the implementation of alternative substances into veterinary medicine, do not guarantee that the selected alternatives will completely replace antimicrobials in veterinary medicine and animal production on a global scale. This publication is a brief overview of the drug resistance phenomenon and its determinants, the steps taken to solve the problem, including the introduction of alternatives to antimicrobials, and the evaluation of some factors influencing the potential implementation of alternatives in animal production. The review also presents two groups of alternatives, which, given their mechanism of action and spectrum, are most comparable to the effectiveness of antibiotics, as emphasized by the authors.

Multidrug resistant coagulase-negative Staphylococcus spp. isolated from cases of chronic rhinosinusitis in humans. Study from Poland

“…Higher resistance may emerge at any time in nosocomial strains or isolates from clinical cases of infection due to the occurrence of various factors. A similar situation has been observed in the case of the increasing plasmid-mediated resistance to colistin or fluoroquinolones in Enterobacteriaceae bacteria in recent years, which is most likely caused by an increase in the consumption of these antimicrobials in food-producing animals or by cross-resistance caused by the use of substances from the same group of antimicrobials in animals or humans [44].…”

A review of the resistome within the digestive tract of livestock

“…In addition to these policies, several strategies have been developed (e.g. the use of bacteriophages, antimicrobial peptides, or vaccines) which may be promising to replace the use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals, which have been extensively reviewed [ 23 , 24 ] While these strategies are crucial to restrict the prevalence of AMR in food-producing animals, ARGs can still be detected in the animal production systems even if no antimicrobials are administered [ 25 ]. In order to further reduce the spread of ARGs from food-producing animals to humans or the environment, it is essential to clarify which ARGs are carried by the microbes (bacteria or archaea) inhabiting the digestive tract of food-producing animals.…”

Editorial: Antimicrobials alternatives for the prevention and treatment of veterinary infectious diseases

“…Since veterinarians play such a pivotal role in raising farmers' understanding of animal health and the principles of new treatments. Such novel options must have a clear mechanism of action, and their use must be simple and obvious to both the veterinarian and the farmer (7). As a result, there is a need for a multi-actor, cross-sectoral strategy to address animal diseases.…”