Playing chicken with antibiotics

Summary

Since the 1950s, the rise in demand for meat has led to a global expansion in the use of antimicrobial drugs in agriculture. The routine use of antimicrobials on farms has caused a rise in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) levels in pathogens with potentially harmful consequences for agricultural productivity, and human health. Globally, AMR is responsible for more than 1 million deaths each year. The precise share of these deaths that is attributable to antimicrobial use in agriculture is challenging to quantify, and remains largely unknown. However, the fact that 73% of the global production of antimicrobials is used in animals raised for food calls for cautious monitoring of AMR levels in the agricultural sector.

In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where meat consumption is growing the fastest, trends in AMR in animals are poorly documented, and surveillance networks are at best nascent. In this context, alternatives to systematic surveillance networks must be found to monitor trends in AMR in the short term, and inform potential actions in these regions.

In this seminar, I will present attempts of my team to map trends in antimicrobial use, and trends in AMR in terrestrial^1,3 and aquatic animals². Our efforts are based on a largely untapped source of information: the hundreds of point prevalence surveys on AMR conducted by veterinarians. We amalgamate these surveys using ensemble geospatial models to produce maps of AMR prevalence. The raison d'être of these maps is to inform decision makers, and international funders to improve surveillance, and antimicrobial stewardship in hotspots of AMR around the world.

Recent publications:

1 Van Boeckel T.P.*, Pires, J.*, Silvester, R., Zhao, C., Song, J., Criscuolo N.G., Gilbert, M., Bonhoeffer, S., Laxminarayan, R.. Global Trends in Antimicrobial Resistance in Animals in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Science, 365, 6459 (2019). PRESS: The Guardian, WIRED, Nature News, National Geographic, Xinhua, Times of India, The East African, LINK.

2 Schar, D., Zhao, C., Wang, Yu., Larsson, DGJ, Gilbert, M., Van Boeckel, T.P. Twenty-year trends in antimicrobial resistance from aquaculture and fisheries in Asia. Nature Communications (2021) LINK.

3 Zhao, C., Wang, Y., Criscuolo, N., Pires, J. Tiseo, K., Van Boeckel, T.P. Geographically targeted surveillance of livestock could help prioritize intervention against antimicrobial resistance in China. Nature Food (2021). LINK