Biocide Impact on Antimicrobial Resistance in Enterobacteriales in One Health settings

Due to imprudent use of antimicrobials in the past, resistance to antimicrobials (AMR) is now present at high rates in all kinds of settings, including hospitals, food production sectors, the environment and human population. As these settings are interconnected, AMR is transmitted between them. One of the most successful interventions to AMR has been decreasing the usage of antimicrobials to reduce selection pressure, especially in livestock farms. In order to reduce the risk of spreading disease while keeping the possibility for intensive farming, biocide chemicals are currently more used for disinfection. However, resistance mechanisms against biocides also exist which may lead to selection of the spread of these mechanisms. Europe has a well-defined monitoring system for AMR in food production and hospital settings conducted by several reference laboratories, therefore, we will use the data and collections of bacteria from these laboratories to determine the prevalence and mechanism of biocide resistance and whether it have been increasing over time. We will determine if biocide resistance is present on mobile DNA elements that can be exchanged between bacteria and may have an indirect selective effect on AMR. As antimicrobial and biocide usage in Europe and developing nations in Africa have been very different, we will compare the DNA of bacteria from countries in both continents. As biocide usage is not yet publicly available as antibiotic usage in most countries, the attitude towards usage of biocides will be studied, and compared between the countries.