A first global map of antimicrobial resistance hotspots in animals

Antimicrobial-resistant infections are rapidly increasing in animals in low- and middle-income countries. This is the result of a study published recently in Science. The international team of researchers from ETH Zurich, Princeton University and the Free University of Brussels led by Branco Weiss Fellow Thomas Van Boeckel produced the first global map of resistance rates, and identified regions where interventions are urgently needed.

The researchers assembled a large literature database and found out where, and in which animals species resistance occurred for common foodborne bacteria Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter and Staphylococcus. The largest resistance hotspots are found in Northeast China, Northeast India, Southern Brazil, Iran and Turkey. Few resistance hotspots have emerged in Africa with the exception of Nigeria and the surroundings of Johannesburg.

For the study, the researchers gathered thousands of publications as well as unpublished veterinary reports from around the world. However, there are large gaps in particular in South America because of a lack of publicly available data. The team has created an open-access web platform (resistancebank.org) where veterinarians and state-authorities can upload data on resistance in their region and share it with other people who are interested.

See the open-access database

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