General Article | Veterinary Microbiology

Antimicrobial Resistance in Livestock: The Strategies to be Prioritized for Mitigation

ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute-ERS, Kolkata Department of Veterinary Microbiology, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, Belgachia, Kolkata

Abstract

Use of antimicrobials in food animals, and moreover, environmental resistance gene pool (‘resistome’) plays important roles in antimicrobial resistance, the complex multi-factorial state of affairs. AMR leads to enormous financial losses associated with high morbidity, mortality, man-day loss, hospital length of stay (LOS), direct health-care costs and social costs of infection.The data for antimicrobial usage in livestock in LMICs including India is scarce but it is evident that use of antibiotics varies with the farming practices. The backyard poultry farmers mostly use ethno-veterinary medicine based on indigenous technical knowledge and in more severe cases with the lower generation antibiotics available in the local retail shop. The antimicrobial usage for growth promotion of livestock and poultry was not detected among the Indian backyard farmers. Our studies found more exposure to the environment presumed to be contaminated might be the probable reason for higher occurrence of beta-lactamase producing bacteria in backyard pigs, kuroilers and ducks than the farmed counterpart, although not directly exposed to the antimicrobials.

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