India’s poultry meat supply chain—from farm to table—has never been systematically checked for how antibiotics are used and where resistant bacteria emerge. This project will map that entire chain for the first time. The problem is stark: bacteria from human infections in India are becoming harder to treat, and poultry are a suspected but unquantified source of resistant microbes. No one knows which antibiotics are used in India’s fast-growing poultry sector, how they are used, or how that use drives resistance that could spill over into people. This project fills that complete data gap. If successful, the research will produce the first hard evidence on where and why resistance develops in poultry meat production. That data will let researchers, farmers, and policymakers design practical, cost-effective interventions—such as alternative disease prevention strategies—to reduce antibiotic use without harming livelihoods. The project also trains Indian researchers in social science methods, building long-term capacity to study and manage antibiotic use beyond this study. The result could be a more sustainable poultry industry and a lower risk of drug-resistant infections reaching consumers.
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The aim of this study is to first to map antimicrobial use (AMU) and the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) that is driven by inappropriate use, across the entire poultry meat supply chain from farm to table in India. The study provides [1] a unique opportunity to map AMU, [2] to understand entry points for development of AMR and [3] the contribution by inappropriate AMU in poultry, and [4] suggests potential solutions to address the huge AMR burden in India. AMR is a major global health risk, particularly in developing countries, threatening human and animal health. Contributing to this problem is the inappropriate use of antimicrobials in people and livestock production. India has a high burden of infectious disease, and bacteria from human clinical infections are becoming increasingly difficult to treat, with fewer treatment options available. Studies suggest that livestock may commonly carry resistant bacteria in their gut, with poultry and poultry meat also identified as a source of such bacteria. However, there is a complete lack of data on the scale of the problem, or on what antimicrobials are being used in poultry meat production, how they are used, and how this contributes to the carriage of AMR bacteria that may be a threat to human and animal health. Poultry meat is one of the main protein sources in Indian and is the fastest growing livestock sector. Increasingly, poultry meat in India is produced through more intensive integrated or semi-integrated farming systems where antimicrobials are used for various purposes, including for growth promotion, to prevent and treat disease. To date there have been no comprehensive studies on AMU or AMR through the poultry meat supply chain. Our interdisciplinary project aims to address these data gaps by studying the poultry meat food supply in its entirety to determine: behaviours that drive AMU and how these contribute to the selection and transmission of AMR, to inform better use; to design with farmers and other stakeholders interventions to reduce AMU/AMR, which are cost-effective and easy to implement; determine the economic impact from changing AMU practices, or using alternatives. The project will involve working closely with the poultry industry, policy makers and other stakeholders throughout to ensure the findings have impact. This project is timely in providing crucial data to inform antimicrobial stewardship: the trajectory of the Indian poultry industry is shifting towards intensive farming and AMU is predicted to rise substantially. Therefore, this is an opportunity to intervene through working closely with stakeholders to provide alternative strategies for sustainable AMU. The project also offers other benefits, with a strong social science component providing unique insights into behaviours driving AMU, as well as service design enabling visualization of AMU and AMR, and co-design strategies. Indian researchers will be trained in these methods, building capacity for social science in Indian agricultural and veterinary research that will have value long after the conclusion of this project. The study will be the first to map AMU and AMR in the entire poultry meat supply chain from farm to table in India. The study provides a unique opportunity to map AMU, understand entry points for development of AMR and the contribution by inappropriate AMU in poultry, and suggest potential solutions to address the huge AMR burden in India.
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