April 22, 2025
Global livestock antibiotic use is predicted to rise by nearly 30 percent by 2040.
Dr. Thomas P. Van Boeckel of the One Health Trust co-authored a study projecting that, without significant policy changes, global livestock antibiotic use could increase by almost 30 percent between 2019 and 2040. While the model predicts that Asia will remain the largest contributor to global livestock antibiotic use quantity (AMUQ) in 2040, Africa is expected to experience the highest relative growth in AMUQ, approaching nearly 42 percent between 2019 and 2040. An integrated approach to mitigating livestock antibiotic use and optimizing livestock biomass is essential as global demand for animal-source proteins rises, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where economies and livelihoods heavily depend on livestock systems. [Nature Communications]
United States funding cuts could accelerate the global AMR crisis.
OHT’s Dr. Ramanan Laxminarayan was quoted in a Devex article about the potential effects of the U.S. foreign aid cuts on the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis. Dr. Laxminarayan predicts that global efforts to scale up AMR research and programs will be put on pause following the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization. Furthermore, eliminating funding for disease surveillance and diagnostics will likely lead to widespread antimicrobial overuse as laboratories lose the capacity to confirm the presence of bacterial infections. The interconnectedness and cross-cutting nature of U.S. funding make its absence particularly complicated, thereby increasing the pressure on other countries and funders to urgently invest in public health. [Devex]
Ploidy shifts may explain a fungal pathogen’s resistance mechanism.
The opportunistic fungal pathogen, Candida tropicalis, can cause infections with a 55-60 percent mortality rate. Moreover, it exhibits high resistance to azoles, antifungal agents commonly used in clinical and agricultural settings. Recently, the pathogen was found to shift its ploidy, or the number of sets of chromosomes in each cell, in response to treatment with tebuconazole, an azole widely used in agriculture. The existence of a stable haploid state in C. tropicalis raises questions about the physiological impacts of ploidy shifts in fungal pathogens on their ability to resist antifungal treatment in the clinic. [PLOS Biology]
Assessing urban environmental and animal stool samples for Salmonella contamination
A whole-genome sequencing analysis of street food and animal and bird feces in an urban park in Quito, Ecuador, detected Salmonella in 10 percent of street food samples, 5 percent of pigeon stool samples, and 3 percent of dog stool samples. Foods that contained sauce or eggs were associated with a high probability of Salmonella isolation. The genotypic similarities between pigeon and dog isolates suggest that animals occupying the same environment may be colonized by the same Salmonella strains. These results call for further research to investigate the direction of transmission of Salmonella between urban environments and fauna. [PLOS One]
Fish microbiomes may not accurately reflect riverine AMR
A microbiome analysis of two riverine fish species present upstream and downstream of a wastewater treatment plant in Germany found that the increase in the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in river water samples caused by wastewater effluent was not mirrored in the fish resistomes. While the microbiomes of the two fish species reflected differences in the bacterial composition of the river water, their resistome compositions were similar across upstream and downstream samples, suggesting that fish are poor sentinels of riverine AMR and ARG abundance. [One Health]
High prevalence of pathogenic bacteria on cooking utensils used in wild meat preparation in Cameroon
Three-fourths of cooking utensils used in wild meat preparation in rural Cameroon were found to be contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, with cooking pots identified as significant reservoirs of bacteria. The isolates identified in this study included bacterial pathogens of clinical relevance – such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, Clostridium difficile, Enterobacter cloacae, and Mycobacterium – underscoring the need for preventive measures, such as handwashing, utensil hygiene, and overall cleanliness of the food preparation environment. [One Health]
Widespread multidrug resistance in hospital UTI samples in Jordan
A hospital-based study of pregnant women and children with symptomatic, laboratory-confirmed urinary tract infections (UTIs) in northern Jordan revealed a bacterial isolation rate of 40 percent in adults and 60 percent in pediatric patients. The most commonly identified bacteria were Escherichia coli (71.4 percent), Klebsiella pneumoniae (10 percent), and Enterobacter cloacae (5.7 percent). The prevalence of multidrug resistance among the studied isolates was high, with all 70 samples showing resistance to an average of 66 percent of the antibiotics included in antibiotic susceptibility testing. [PLOS One]
Herpes zoster vaccination is associated with a lower risk of new dementia diagnosis in Welsh adults.
A regression discontinuity analysis comparing eligible and ineligible individuals for the live-attenuated herpes zoster vaccine in Wales demonstrated that receiving the vaccine reduced the probability of a new dementia diagnosis over a seven-year follow-up period by 3.5 percentage points (20 percent relative reduction). By leveraging an existing roll-out of the herpes zoster vaccine, the study employed a quasi-experimental design, increasing the likelihood of a causal relationship between vaccination and the risk of dementia diagnosis. [Nature]
Estimating the prevalence of arboviruses in humans and livestock in Ethiopia
A systematic review and meta-analysis revealed a pooled seroprevalence of arboviruses in humans in Ethiopia using anti-IgG and anti-IgM of 15.43 percent and 10.04 percent, respectively. The pooled prevalence of arboviruses in livestock in Ethiopia was found to be 15.77 percent. The high prevalence of arboviruses reported in humans and livestock in Ethiopia highlights the need for an integrated One Health approach to enhance arbovirus surveillance and multisectoral disease prevention efforts. [BMC Infectious Diseases]
Regional disparities in human and cattle tuberculosis prevalence in Africa.
A systematic review and meta-analysis estimated the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) in cattle in Africa to be 5.06 percent, with a higher burden in west Africa. The study also found that the prevalence of Mycobacterium bovis in humans was 0.73 percent, with significant regional variations and higher rates among livestock workers. Regional differences in human immunodeficiency virus prevalence and sociocultural practices related to cattle consumption and exposure may explain the geographic variations observed in zoonotic TB among humans in Africa. [One Health Outlook]
Image from Shutterstock
