Impact of contrasting poultry exposures on human, poultry, and wastewater antibiotic resistomes in Bangladesh

Williams, Alexander D.; Rousham, Emily; Neal, Andrew L.; Amin, Mohammed Badrul; Hobman, Jon L.; Stekel, Dov; Islam, Mohammad Aminul

Abstract

Interactions between humans, animals, and the environment are considered critical foci for addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR). However, One Health data on AMR in low- and middle-income countries are presently scarce. Using metagenomics, we investigated whether and how the fecal antibiotic resistomes of humans are influenced by exposure to intensive and non-intensively reared poultry within contrasting settings of urban wet markets (n = 13) and rural households (n = 7) in Bangladesh. We also considered poultry (n = 10) and wastewater (n = 10) resistomes in these settings. We found that occupational poultry exposures did not significantly alter the human fecal resistome. In contrast, macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin and streptothricin antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were enriched in poultry from urban wet markets relative to rural household chickens. Wastewater had the highest ARG richness, though this was only partially explained by poultry cecal and human fecal sources. Wastewater also contained clinically significant carbapenem ARGs. This study therefore provides critical insight into the distribution of ARGs in Bangladesh.

Citation

Williams, A. D., Rousham, E., Neal, A. L., Amin, M. B., Hobman, J. L., Stekel, D., & Islam, M. A. (2023). Impact of contrasting poultry exposures on human, poultry, and wastewater antibiotic resistomes in Bangladesh. Microbiology Spectrum, 11(6), e0176323. https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.01763-23

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 19, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Nov 16, 2023
• Publication Date: Nov 16, 2023
• Deposit Date: Dec 11, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 12, 2023
• Journal: Microbiology Spectrum
• Electronic ISSN: 2165-0497
• Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 6
• Pages: e0176323
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.01763-23
• Keywords: antibiotic resistance, metagenomics, one health, environmental microbiology, occupational exposure
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/27380988
• Publisher URL: https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.01763-23