Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Jul 24;10(8):1264.
doi: 10.3390/ani10081264.

A Review of Antimicrobial Resistance in Poultry Farming within Low-Resource Settings

Hayden D Hedman  1 , Karla A Vasco  2 , Lixin Zhang  2   3
Affiliations
Review

A Review of Antimicrobial Resistance in Poultry Farming within Low-Resource Settings

Hayden D Hedman et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

The emergence, spread, and persistence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remain a pressing global health issue. Animal husbandry, in particular poultry, makes up a substantial portion of the global antimicrobial use. Despite the growing body of research evaluating the AMR within industrial farming systems, there is a gap in understanding the emergence of bacterial resistance originating from poultry within resource-limited environments. As countries continue to transition from low- to middle income countries (LMICs), there will be an increased demand for quality sources of animal protein. Further promotion of intensive poultry farming could address issues of food security, but it may also increase risks of AMR exposure to poultry, other domestic animals, wildlife, and human populations. Given that intensively raised poultry can function as animal reservoirs for AMR, surveillance is needed to evaluate the impacts on humans, other animals, and the environment. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of poultry production within low-resource settings in order to inform future small-scale poultry farming development. Future research is needed in order to understand the full extent of the epidemiology and ecology of AMR in poultry within low-resource settings.

Keywords: antimicrobial resistance; economic development; food security; intensive poultry production.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Global antimicrobial consumption in livestock in milligrams per 10 km2 pixels (Top) and average SD of estimates of milligrams per population correlation unit (PCU) (Bottom) [26].
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) Share of population that was food insecure in 2019 and (B) projected to be insecure in 2029. Grey corresponds to regions where data is unavailable [31].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Predicted trends 1990–2028 in global livestock meat per capita (kg) consumption. Data summarized from OECD meat consumption [32].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Primary pathways involved in the exchange of genetic information conferring antibiotic resistance consisting of (A) vertical transmission and horizontal transmission (B).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Poultry egg and meat production by husbandry type and geographic region (EASA: East Asia and Southeast Asia; LACA: Latin America and Caribbean; NENA: Near East and North Africa). Data summarized from FAOSTAT Statistical Database [46].
Figure 6
Figure 6
Conceptual graphic illustrating antimicrobial resistance associated with intensive poultry production.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Tang K.L., Caffrey N.P., Nóbrega D.B., Cork S.C., Ronksley P.E., Barkema H.W., Polachek A.J., Ganshorn H., Sharma N., Kellner J.D., et al. Restricting the use of antibiotics in food-producing animals and its associations with antibiotic resistance in food-producing animals and human beings: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Planet. Heal. 2017;1:e316–e327. doi: 10.1016/S2542-5196(17)30141-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schwartz B., Broome C., Brown G., Hightower A., Ciesielski C., Gaventa S., Gellin B., Mascola L. Listeriosis Study Group Association of Sporadic Listeriosis With Consumption of Uncooked Hot Dogs and Undercooked Chicken. Lancet. 1988;332:779–782. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(88)92425-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Vieira N., Bates S.J., Solberg O.D., Ponce K., Howsmon R., Cevallos W., Trueba G., Riley L., Eisenberg J.N.S. High prevalence of enteroinvasive Escherichia coli isolated in a remote region of northern coastal Ecuador. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 2007;76:528–533. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.2007.76.528. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chantziaras I., Boyen F., Callens B., Dewulf J. Correlation between veterinary antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance in food-producing animals: A report on seven countries. J. Antimicrob. Chemother. 2014;69:827–834. doi: 10.1093/jac/dkt443. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Aarestrup F.M. Veterinary Drug Usage and Antimicrobial Resistance in Bacteria of Animal Origin. Basic Clin. Pharmacol. Toxicol. 2005;96:271–281. doi: 10.1111/j.1742-7843.2005.pto960401.x. - DOI - PubMed