Factors Obscuring the Role of E. coli from Domestic Animals in the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Crisis: An Evidence-Based Review

Fernanda Loayza, Jay P. Graham and Gabriel Trueba
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Fernanda Loayza: Microbiology Institute, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Diego de Robles y Pampite, Cumbayá-Quito P.O. BOX 170901, Ecuador
Jay P. Graham: Berkeley School of Public Health, University of California, 2121 Berkeley Way, Room 5302, Berkeley, CA 94720-7360, USA
Gabriel Trueba: Microbiology Institute, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Diego de Robles y Pampite, Cumbayá-Quito P.O. BOX 170901, Ecuador

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-12

Abstract: Recent studies have found limited associations between antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in domestic animals (and animal products), and AMR in human clinical settings. These studies have primarily used Escherichia coli , a critically important bacterial species associated with significant human morbidity and mortality. E. coli is found in domestic animals and the environment, and it can be easily transmitted between these compartments. Additionally, the World Health Organization has highlighted E. coli as a “highly relevant and representative indicator of the magnitude and the leading edge of the global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) problem”. In this paper, we discuss the weaknesses of current research that aims to link E. coli from domestic animals to the current AMR crisis in humans. Fundamental gaps remain in our understanding the complexities of E. coli population genetics and the magnitude of phenomena such as horizontal gene transfer (HGT) or DNA rearrangements (transposition and recombination). The dynamic and intricate interplay between bacterial clones, plasmids, transposons, and genes likely blur the evidence of AMR transmission from E. coli in domestic animals to human microbiota and vice versa. We describe key factors that are frequently neglected when carrying out studies of AMR sources and transmission dynamics.

Keywords: commensal E. coli; antimicrobial resistance; food-animals; gene transfer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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