Biocide Impact on Antimicrobial Resistance in Enterobacterales in One Health settings
( BIORESIST )

Interventions

Surveillance

Transmission

Research Project: 2025-04-01 - 2028-03-31
Total sum awarded: €918 241

The abundant usage of antimicrobials in livestock in the past has allowed for farms to grow while keepingtransmission of pathogens in check. As this resulted in the selection of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) tospread, many countries have now put restrictions on their usage, and aimed at disease prevention.Disinfection of stables and equipment using biocide chemicals has become a standard, but resistance tobiocides also exist in bacterial communities. The abundant usage of biocides may be selecting for resistanceagainst biocides to develop and be spread, similar as AMR-genes. Specifically, if biocide resistance occursin multi-drug resistant bacteria, the usage of biocides contributes to the indirect selection of AMR. As part of National Action Plans against AMR, many countries are starting to monitor antimicrobial usage and AMR bacteria in the food chain. Specifically in the EU, monitoring is now mandatory and hasbeen in place for several years at National Reference Laboratories (NRLs). As whole-genome sequencing(WGS) has become available, NRLs can use these data to investigate the prevalence of biocideresistance, and confirm an association with AMR. Furthermore, generating WGS data from their isolatecollections can indicate changes over time. In developing nations, the usage of antimicrobials and biocides historically has been different. Comparisonswill therefore be made of WGS data of collected isolates, but also of the usage of, and attitude towardsantimicrobials and biocides in European countries and a low and middle income country in Africa.

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  • Mike Brouwer, Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Netherlands (Coordinator)
  • Manal AbuOun, Animal and Plant Health Agency, United Kingdom (Partner)
  • Marianne Sunde, Norwegian Veterinary Institute, Norway (Partner)
  • Elpidius Rukambile, Tanzania Veterinary Laboratory Agency, Tanzania, United Republic Of (Observer)
  • Pieter-Jan Ceyssens, Sciensano, Belgium (Observer)

Due to imprudent use of antimicrobials in the past, resistance to antimicrobials (AMR) is present at highrates in all kinds of settings, including hospitals, food production sectors, the environment and humanpopulation. As these settings are all interconnected, AMR is transmitted between them. One of the mostsuccessful interventions to AMR, has been decreasing the usage of antimicrobials to reduce selectionpressure, especially in livestock farms. In order to reduce the risk of spreading disease while keeping thepossibility for intensive farming, biocide chemicals are used more widely now for disinfection. But resistancemechanisms against biocides also exist which may lead to selection of the spread of these mechanisms.Europe has a well defined monitoring system for AMR in food production and hospital settings, conducted bya number of reference laboratories, therefore, we will use the data and collections of bacteria from theselaboratories to determine the prevalence of biocide resistance mechanisms and if these have been increasingover time. We will determine if biocide resistance is present on mobile DNA elements that can be exchangedbetween bacteria, and may have an indirect selective effect on AMR. As antimicrobial and biocide usage inEurope and developing nations in Africa have been very different, we will compare the DNA of bacteria fromcountries in both continents. As biocide usage is not yet publicly available as antibiotic usage in mostcountries, the attitude towards usage of biocides will be studied, and compared between the countries.

Call

2024 - Interventions moving forward to promote action to counteract the emergence and spread of bacterial and fungal resistance and to improve treatments