The Use of Antibiotics and Antimicrobial Resistance in Veterinary Medicine, a Complex Phenomenon: A Narrative Review

Abstract

As warned by Sir Alexander Fleming in his Nobel Prize address: “the use of antimicrobials can, and will, lead to resistance”. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has recently increased due to the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, and their use in animals (food-producing and companion) has also resulted in the selection and transmission of resistant bacteria. The epidemiology of resistance is complex, and factors other than the overall quantity of antibiotics consumed may influence it. Nowadays, AMR has a serious impact on society, both economically and in terms of healthcare. This narrative review aimed to provide a scenario of the state of the AMR phenomenon in veterinary medicine related to the use of antibiotics in different animal species; the impact that it can have on animals, as well as humans and the environment, was considered. Providing some particular instances, the authors tried to explain the vastness of the phenomenon of AMR in veterinary medicine due to many and diverse aspects that cannot always be controlled. The veterinarian is the main reference point here and has a high responsibility towards the human–animal–environment triad. Sharing such a burden with human medicine and cooperating together for the same purpose (fighting and containing AMR) represents an effective example of the application of the One Health approach.

Surveys on Pet-Reptile-Associated Multi-Drug-Resistant Salmonella spp. in the Timișoara Metropolitan Region—Western Romania

“…Fluoroquinolones are an important class of antibiotics used to treat a variety of human and animal (including reptiles) infections, and they are especially effective against salmonellosis. To keep fluoroquinolones as effective as possible, they must be used with caution; antibiotic residues in food must be checked on a regular basis, and extensive monitoring for the formation of bacterial resistance in both animals and humans must be provided [44,45]. Carbapenems (ertapenem and imipenem), known as "last resort" antibiotics for use in cases where drug resistance monitoring is required, are required to establish any possible links between bacterial reservoirs and to limit the bidirectional transfer of encoding genes between Salmonella spp.…”

Plant Essential Oils as a Tool in the Control of Bovine Mastitis: An Update

“…The consistent use of antibiotics, sometimes misused or overused, builds a selective pressure on both pathogenic bacteria and commensal bacteria, such as gut or skin microbiota, that can result in the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and the spread of resistant bacteria or genes. Nowadays, AMR is a widespread and growing phenomenon and it has a serious impact on society, both economically and in terms of healthcare [42]. It represents a global crisis and one of the most complex challenges, already responsible for 700,000 deaths a year globally that could rise to 10 million by 2050 [43,44], resulting in 11% loss in the production of livestock [45].…”

“…In animals, AMR is much more complex than it is in humans and requires an even more attentive and conscious use of antibiotics [42]. In particular, the use of antibiotics, like any other drug, in food animals can result in the presence of residues in edible tissues, as well as in milk [46].…”

Antibiotic resistance spectrums of Escherichia coli and Enterococcus spp. strains against commonly used antimicrobials from commercial meat-rabbit farms in Chengdu City, Southwest China

“…In recent years, the escalating public concerns over the evolution and spread of bacteria resistance between livestock and humans have underscored the need for surveillance on the judicious use of antibiotics in food-producing animals ( 1 – 3 ). However, the aggressive use of prophylactic and therapeutic antimicrobials during intensive rabbit production may facilitate population-level transfer of antibiotic resistance in farming environments ( 4 , 5 ). These inadvertent consequences could potentially expedite the acquisition of antibiotic resistance and virulence among commensal bacteria in gastrointestinal tract ( 6 ), such as Enterobacter spp.…”

“…Although the restriction on the use of antibiotic feed additives as growth promoter in food-producing animals has significantly reduced the burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) on food-chains and ecosystems ( 11 , 12 ), the inappropriate use of therapeutic antibiotics, such as tetracyclines, chloramphenicols and β-lactams ( 4 , 5 ), remains an overlooked attention to the transferable antibiotic resistance resulting from antibiotics stress or bacteria contamination in food animal production systems. Since the emerging “superbugs” that exhibit resistance to critically important antimicrobials (CIAs), such as extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) (like blaTEM, blaCTX-M, blaSHV) , as well as phosphoethanolamine (pEtN) transferase (like mcr-1 and mcr-2) producing E. coli strains, high-level gentamicin-resistant (HLGR) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp.…”