Antimicrobial resistance in aquaculture

Area of Science:

• Aquatic animal health
• Antimicrobial resistance
• Risk assessment

Background:

• Antimicrobial therapy is crucial for managing infectious disease outbreaks in aquaculture.
• Increased antimicrobial use can drive bacterial resistance, negatively affecting aquaculture and potentially human/terrestrial animal health.
• Assessing these risks is challenging due to aquaculture's diversity and data scarcity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the critical need for validated methods to assess antimicrobial resistance in aquaculture.
• To emphasize the limitations of current risk assessment and management strategies.
• To advocate for research into gene ecology and gene flow for better risk evaluation.

Main Methods:

• The study critically reviews existing approaches to risk analysis and management in aquaculture.
• It identifies a fundamental lack of validated methodologies for determining bacterial resistance.
• It proposes the necessity of ecological and gene flow studies.

Main Results:

• Current risk management relies on lists of critically important antimicrobials, lacking robust scientific validation.
• There is a significant deficit in data and validated methods for assessing antimicrobial resistance in aquaculture.
• Existing methods for classifying bacterial resistance are insufficient.

Conclusions:

• Validated methods for resistance detection and risk assessment are urgently needed in aquaculture.
• Further research on gene ecology and environmental gene flow is essential for effective antimicrobial stewardship.
• Developing appropriate risk management strategies requires a stronger scientific foundation.