Anthropogenic environmental drivers of antimicrobial resistance in wildlife
The isolation of antimicrobial resistant bacteria (ARB) from wildlife living adjacent to humans has led to the suggestion that such antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is anthropogenically driven by exposure to antimicrobials and ARB. However, ARB have also been detected in wildlife living in areas witho...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2019
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55137/ |
| _version_ | 1848799124016594944 |
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| author | Swift, Benjamin M.C. Bennett, Malcolm Waller, Katie Dodd, Christine Murray, Annie Gomes, Rachel L. Humphreys, Bethan Hobman, Jon L. Jones, Michael A. Whitlock, Sophia E. Mitchell, Lucy J. Lennon, Rosie J. Arnold, Kathryn E. |
| author_facet | Swift, Benjamin M.C. Bennett, Malcolm Waller, Katie Dodd, Christine Murray, Annie Gomes, Rachel L. Humphreys, Bethan Hobman, Jon L. Jones, Michael A. Whitlock, Sophia E. Mitchell, Lucy J. Lennon, Rosie J. Arnold, Kathryn E. |
| author_sort | Swift, Benjamin M.C. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The isolation of antimicrobial resistant bacteria (ARB) from wildlife living adjacent to humans has led to the suggestion that such antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is anthropogenically driven by exposure to antimicrobials and ARB. However, ARB have also been detected in wildlife living in areas without interaction with humans. Here, we investigated patterns of resistance in Escherichia coli isolated from 408 wild bird and mammal faecal samples. AMR and multi-drug resistance (MDR) prevalence in wildlife samples differed significantly between a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP; wastes of antibiotic-treated humans) and a Farm site (antibiotic-treated livestock wastes) and Central site (no sources of wastes containing anthropogenic AMR or antimicrobials), but patterns of resistance also varied significantly over time and between mammals and birds. Over 30% of AMR isolates were resistant to colistin, a last-resort antibiotic, but resistance was not due to the mcr-1 gene. ESBL and AmpC activity were common in isolates from mammals. Wildlife were, therefore, harbouring resistance of clinical relevance. AMR E. coli, including MDR, were found in diverse wildlife species, and the patterns and prevalence of resistance were not consistently associated with site and therefore different exposure risks. We conclude that AMR in commensal bacteria of wildlife is not driven simply by anthropogenic factors, and, in practical terms, this may limit the utility of wildlife as sentinels of spatial variation in the transmission of environmental AMR. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:30:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-55137 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:30:40Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-551372019-08-16T04:30:15Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55137/ Anthropogenic environmental drivers of antimicrobial resistance in wildlife Swift, Benjamin M.C. Bennett, Malcolm Waller, Katie Dodd, Christine Murray, Annie Gomes, Rachel L. Humphreys, Bethan Hobman, Jon L. Jones, Michael A. Whitlock, Sophia E. Mitchell, Lucy J. Lennon, Rosie J. Arnold, Kathryn E. The isolation of antimicrobial resistant bacteria (ARB) from wildlife living adjacent to humans has led to the suggestion that such antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is anthropogenically driven by exposure to antimicrobials and ARB. However, ARB have also been detected in wildlife living in areas without interaction with humans. Here, we investigated patterns of resistance in Escherichia coli isolated from 408 wild bird and mammal faecal samples. AMR and multi-drug resistance (MDR) prevalence in wildlife samples differed significantly between a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP; wastes of antibiotic-treated humans) and a Farm site (antibiotic-treated livestock wastes) and Central site (no sources of wastes containing anthropogenic AMR or antimicrobials), but patterns of resistance also varied significantly over time and between mammals and birds. Over 30% of AMR isolates were resistant to colistin, a last-resort antibiotic, but resistance was not due to the mcr-1 gene. ESBL and AmpC activity were common in isolates from mammals. Wildlife were, therefore, harbouring resistance of clinical relevance. AMR E. coli, including MDR, were found in diverse wildlife species, and the patterns and prevalence of resistance were not consistently associated with site and therefore different exposure risks. We conclude that AMR in commensal bacteria of wildlife is not driven simply by anthropogenic factors, and, in practical terms, this may limit the utility of wildlife as sentinels of spatial variation in the transmission of environmental AMR. Elsevier 2019-02-01 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by_nc_nd https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55137/1/Swift%20et%20al%20%20Anthropogenic%20environmental%20drivers%20of%20AMR%20in%20wildlife.pdf Swift, Benjamin M.C., Bennett, Malcolm, Waller, Katie, Dodd, Christine, Murray, Annie, Gomes, Rachel L., Humphreys, Bethan, Hobman, Jon L., Jones, Michael A., Whitlock, Sophia E., Mitchell, Lucy J., Lennon, Rosie J. and Arnold, Kathryn E. (2019) Anthropogenic environmental drivers of antimicrobial resistance in wildlife. Science of the Total Environment, 649 . pp. 12-20. ISSN 1879-1026 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969718331449 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.180 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.180 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.180 |
| spellingShingle | Swift, Benjamin M.C. Bennett, Malcolm Waller, Katie Dodd, Christine Murray, Annie Gomes, Rachel L. Humphreys, Bethan Hobman, Jon L. Jones, Michael A. Whitlock, Sophia E. Mitchell, Lucy J. Lennon, Rosie J. Arnold, Kathryn E. Anthropogenic environmental drivers of antimicrobial resistance in wildlife |
| title | Anthropogenic environmental drivers of antimicrobial resistance in wildlife |
| title_full | Anthropogenic environmental drivers of antimicrobial resistance in wildlife |
| title_fullStr | Anthropogenic environmental drivers of antimicrobial resistance in wildlife |
| title_full_unstemmed | Anthropogenic environmental drivers of antimicrobial resistance in wildlife |
| title_short | Anthropogenic environmental drivers of antimicrobial resistance in wildlife |
| title_sort | anthropogenic environmental drivers of antimicrobial resistance in wildlife |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55137/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55137/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55137/ |