Strategies for Prevention and Control of Multidrug-resistant Bacteria in Ruminants

Abstract

Antibiotics are no longer effective in treating bacterial infections due to antimicrobial drug resistance. Therefore, various alternative strategies have been developed to combat multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria. The current review article aimed to shed light on strategies to prevent and control MDR bacteria in ruminants. Due to the development of new resistant bacteria, there is a need for effective treatments and prevention protocols in livestock and humans. With growing antibiotic-resistant organisms, a few antimicrobial medicines will be available to treat the infection when no new drugs are developed. This highlights the importance of looking for other strategies for combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In this regard, alternative strategies have been proposed to minimize antimicrobial drug overuse in ruminants. These alternative procedures include alternatives for growth promotion (such as in-feed enzymes, probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, and antimicrobial peptides), alternatives for disease prevention (such as vaccines, immune modulators, chicken egg yolk antibodies, farm management, and biosecurity), and alternatives for disease treatment such as plant extracts and phage-therapy to antibiotics. These alternative methods should be safe‎ and efficient without inducing microbial resistance.