Photo: ILRI/Stevie Mann
A4NH's Flagship 2 leader, Delia Grace, veterinary epidemiologist and food safety expert at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), recently published a paper which aims to identify key evidence gaps in our knowledge of livestock- and fisheries-linked antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the developing world, and to document on-going or planned research initiatives on this topic by key stakeholders. The research emphasizes those infections which are of greatest potential risk to human health, namely zoonotic pathogens transmitted through food, which are found in animals, animal food products, and agro-food environments.
The paper reviews evidence from developing countries on many aspects of agricultural related AMR, including the use of antimicrobials in agriculture; the impacts of this use on human and animal health; the acceptability and feasibility of stricter control of antibiotic use in agriculture; and, the costs and benefits of stricter control taking into account trades-offs between overuse and lack of access to antimicrobial drugs.
In her review, Grace concludes that AMR is intrinsically a global problem that can only be managed at supra-national scale and the current strong momentum to take action on AMR provides an opportunity to address the problem globally and comprehensively, addressing both medical and veterinary use. This should be done in an evidence-based way which includes filling knowledge gaps, careful piloting of interventions, and rigorous evaluation of successes and failures.
This report was produced by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) for Evidence on Demand with the assistance of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) contracted through the Climate, Environment, Infrastructure and Livelihoods Professional Evidence and Applied Knowledge Services (CEIL PEAKS) programme, jointly managed by DAI (which incorporates HTSPE Limited) and IMC Worldwide Limited.
The paper is available for download here:
