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Updated: Oct 12, 2025

Author Spotlight: Understanding and Detecting Environmental Antimicrobial Resistance by Combining Culture-Based Techniques and Genomics
Published on: July 19, 2024
The air-borne antibiotic resistome: Occurrence, health risks, and future directions
Willis Gwenzi1, Zahra Shamsizadeh2, Sahar Gholipour3
1Biosystems and Environmental Engineering Research Group, Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zimbabwe, P.O. Box MP 167, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Abstract:
Antibiotic resistance comprising of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is an emerging problem causing global human health risks. Several reviews exist on antibiotic resistance in various environmental compartments excluding the air-borne resistome. An increasing body of recent evidence exists on the air-borne resistome comprising of antibiotic resistance in air-borne bioaerosols from various environmental compartments. However, a comprehensive review on the sources, dissemination, behavior, fate, and human exposure and health risks of the air-borne resistome is still lacking. Therefore, the current review uses the source-pathway-receptor-impact-mitigation framework to investigate the air-borne resistome. The nature and sources of antibiotic resistance in the air-borne resistome are discussed. The dissemination pathways, and environmental and anthropogenic drivers accounting for the transfer of antibiotic resistance from sources to the receptors are highlighted. The human exposure and health risks posed by air-borne resistome are presented. A health risk assessment and mitigation strategy is discussed. Finally, future research directions including key knowledge gaps are summarized.
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