Interventions to control the dynamics of antimicrobial resistance from chickens through the environment

• Roswitha Merle, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany (Coordinator)
• Lucie Collineau, ANSES, French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety, France (Partner)
• Mindaugas Malakauskas, Veterinary Academy of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania (Partner)
• Marta Kuzminska-Bajor, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Poland (Partner)
• Wejdene Mansour, University of Sousse, Tunisia (Partner)
• Tina Kabelitz, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy, Germany (Partner)

The overall objective of the project ENVIRE is to contribute to the reduction of antimicrobial resistance in broiler chickens and of the spread from chicken farms to the environment, and ultimately to humans. We will carry out intervention studies, either as an experiment or in chicken farms. We will test, which interventions are most effective and feasible: i) Antibiotic-free raising of chickens, ii) Treatment with medicinal plants as alternative for antibiotics, iii) vaccination against the bacterium Escherichia coli, iv) Application of bacteriophages that infiltrate and destroy bacteria, v) Treatment or long storage of manure, vi) Treatment of farm effluents to remove antibiotics and their residues. Focus will be laid on certain bacteria that are widely distributed, and on certain resistances that can harm human health (e.g. so-called ESBL). A mathematical risk assessment model will be developed and used to assess the effectiveness as well as potential synergistic effects of the interventions, to reduce human exposure via the foodborne, occupational and environmental pathways. Data already available for the participating countries will be included in the model, and new, essential data will be generated within the studies. As a result, specific as well as general interventions will be identified that have the potential to reduce AMR in chicken and in the environment of chicken farms for Europe and Tunisia. To achieve this, six working groups from Germany, France, Lithuania, Poland, and Tunisia, bundle their leading expertise for the respective issue.