One Health Rationale to Investigate the emerGence of AMR related to chicken Meat and Egg consumption (OHRIGAME)

With growing demand for protein from animal origin, the poultry industry is experiencing an unprecedented intensification in Southeast Asia. Industrialisation of livestock farming is accompanied by an overuse/misuse of antimicrobial drugs (AMD) which is believed to be a significant driver of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR is a major threat for human and is reported to be responsible for close to a million deaths, yearly. The team assembled in this project has worked together within the UKRI GCRF One Health Poultry Hub, to generate robust evidence of excess AMD use in poultry production systems within Vietnam, using a holistic One Health approach that integrates studies from biological and social science disciplines. This foundation has generated knowledge on the overall structure and vulnerability of poultry production systems in Vietnam, with insights into the lives of farmers and other actors, including differences in the roles, responsibilities and behaviours of men and women working across the network. It also highlighted an alarming prevalence of food-borne pathogens in chickens, showed that chicken gut bacteria and microbial communities have high levels of AMR genes resulting in resistance to many AMDs, and that AMD residues over the maximum residue limit (MRL) are present in ~ 9% of meat on sale to the public. This project will continue the interdisciplinary approach to generate new knowledge on the dynamics of AMR acquisition during the production cycle, to understand the drivers of high AMD use in Vietnam chicken production, and to investigate potential impacts of unintentional exposure to AMD and resistant bacteria by ingestion of contaminated water (chickens) of food (chickens and humans). The objectives of the OHRIGAME project (One Health Rationale to Investigate the emerGence of AMR related to chicken Meat and Egg consumption) are to: Through longitudinal sampling, evaluate AMR in chicken gut bacterial populations during their breeding until sale Use forensic investigative analyses to identify underlying reasons for the high level of veterinary drugs in meat, by analysis eggs, chicken feed and drinking water, and relate this to AMR profiles within the same chickens. The Vietnamese government’s ban of prophylactic antimicrobial use, coming into place in 2025, will constitute a natural intervention. Use questionnaire based research to understand farmers’ motivations for under-reporting use of AMD. We will also sample chicken meat imported from Vietnam and hospital-grade food in the UK to evaluate the risk of that AMD residues and AMR genes could pose to clinical populations of patients at risk of gut bacteria dysregulation. From the start in Vietnam we will work with local and national stakeholders from government, particularly the Department of Animal Health within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, with whom we have a well-established relationship, and with the One Health Partnership secretariat, agencies, NGOs and the poultry sector. With expansion of analysis capacity, we will propose a framework to increase Vietnam capability to screen AMD residue and AMR in chicken meat production to protect the national consumers, a key priority of the Vietnam’s Decision No. 4 14 /QD-TTg (Strengthening capacity to manage and control animal diseases and diseases transmitted between animals and humans).Our international One Health approach includes AMR diplomacy actions which will benefit people locally in Vietnam and is completely aligned with the UK National Action Plan on AMR.