The Rising Tide of Antimicrobial Resistance in Aquaculture: Sources, Sinks and Solutions
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Date
2017-06-01
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Citation of Original Publication
Joy E. M. Watts, Harold J. Schreier , Lauma Lanska and Michelle S. Hale, The Rising Tide of Antimicrobial Resistance in Aquaculture: Sources, Sinks and Solutions, Mar. Drugs 2017, 15(6), 158; https://doi.org/10.3390/md15060158
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Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Abstract
As the human population increases there is an increasing reliance on aquaculture to
supply a safe, reliable, and economic supply of food. Although food production is essential
for a healthy population, an increasing threat to global human health is antimicrobial resistance.
Extensive antibiotic resistant strains are now being detected; the spread of these strains could
greatly reduce medical treatment options available and increase deaths from previously curable
infections. Antibiotic resistance is widespread due in part to clinical overuse and misuse; however, the
natural processes of horizontal gene transfer and mutation events that allow genetic exchange within
microbial populations have been ongoing since ancient times. By their nature, aquaculture systems
contain high numbers of diverse bacteria, which exist in combination with the current and past use
of antibiotics, probiotics, prebiotics, and other treatment regimens—singularly or in combination.
These systems have been designated as “genetic hotspots” for gene transfer. As our reliance on
aquaculture grows, it is essential that we identify the sources and sinks of antimicrobial resistance,
and monitor and analyse the transfer of antimicrobial resistance between the microbial community,
the environment, and the farmed product, in order to better understand the implications to human
and environmental health.