Antimicrobial resistance: A global threat

Development of AMR

Antimicrobial products are used to kill or significantly slow the growth of disease causing microbes

Under certain conditions, selective pressure drives evolution of mechanism that allows some microbes to resist antimicrobial activity

Resistant microbes are able to survive antimicrobial treatment and continue to replicate

AMR microbes pass resistance genes to other microbes via vertical/horizontal transfer

What is antimicrobial resistance (AMR)?

Anti-microbial resistance happens when germs like bacteria, fungi, viruses, etc., develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them. It is a natural phenomenon that happens naturally in microorganisms, but injudicious use of antibiotics accelerates this process and makes the available antibiotics ineffective.

Why a matter of worry?

In the year 2019, approximately 5 million human deaths were associated by bacterial antimicrobial resistance worldwide, including 1.3 million human deaths attributed to bacterial AMR and is forecasted to reach 10 million by 2050.

Why Animal production systems are criticized?

• More than 27 different classes of antibiotics are used in animals
• 118 countries reported quantitative data on antimicrobial use in animals between 2015 and 2017, an increase from 89 reporting in 2015.
• Prominent use of antibiotics as antibiotic growth promoters
• Use of antibiotics as a preventive measure
• Use of antibiotics as a substitute for poor management

 Impact of AMR by 2050 would be wide ranging

28 million people projects to fall into poverty because of AMR

Up to 7.5% decline in global livestock production

Up to 3.8% decline in global export

Up to 3 trillion USD global increase in healthcare cost

What are the impacts of AMR on human health?

Increased human morbidity and mortality

Reduced efficacy of related antibiotics used in human

Increased human health care cost

Increased potential carriage and dissemination

Facilitated emergence of resistance in human pathogens

Way forward

What Livestock and poultry sector can do?

• Ensure that antimicrobials given to animals are only used to control or treat infectious disease and used under veterinary supervisions
• Vaccinate animals to reduce the need for antibiotics and use the alternatives available in the market
• Promote and apply good practices at all steps of production and processing of food from animals
• Adopt sustainable system which improve hygiene, biosecurity and stress-free handling of animals
• Implement international standards for responsible use of antibiotics and guidelines set by OIE, FAO, and WHO.

 At personal level how can we reduce the risk of AMR?

• Only use antibiotics, when prescribed by a certified health professional
• Always take full prescription even if you feel better
• Never use left-over antibiotics
• Never share antibiotics with others
• Prevent infections by regularly washing your hands, avoiding contact with sick people and keeping your vaccination up to date

 Phytogenics to the rescue!

The search for efficacious alternative growth promoters (AGPs) continues alike in all major meat-producing countries where antibiotics have been banned and where such restrictions are still waiting to be imposed.

Phytogenics are one of the promising classes having with stood the test of time for the longest, exerting consistent results across disparate geographies and even species.

Phytogenics work at all possible levels through overlapping mechanisms and do not have pinpoint mechanisms of action as some other classes of antibiotic replacers do. Phytogenics work best when offered regularly over a period of time and they offer a multitude of benefits that other classes do not:

• They can be used at a blanket inclusion level that does not require fine-tuning:
• They have very wide margins of safety
• They are usually the most pelletization-friendly and stable
• They act both directly and indirectly on all three components i.e., the feed, the host and the gut microbiota
• They offer multiple benefits beyond growth promotion and immunity
• The complex physicochemical matrix provided by the herbal ingredients also protects the phytoactive constituents, which usually results in the best stability when compared to other classes of AGPs

 How it reduces the dependency on antibiotics:

• Inhibition of biofilm formation
• Efflux pump (EP) inhibitors
• Attenuating bacterial virulence
• Immunomodulation
• Combusting resistance through synergism between phytogenics

 Herbs as antimicrobial 

Medicago sativa

Onobrychis sativa

Allium sativum

Raphanus sativum

Vetveria zizanioides L. Nash

Chelidonium majus

Sanguisorba officinalis

Cinnamon osmophoeum

Ocimum basilicum

Micromeria nervosa

Rabdosia trichocarpa

Melaleuca alternifolia

Eucalyptus sp.

Anthrocephalous cadamba

Pterocarpus santalinus

Lantana camara

 Butea monosperma

Jatropa curcas

Ficus exasperate

Nauclea latifolia

Rhus coriaria

Ficus exasperate

Nauclea latifolia

Rhus coriaria

Castanea sativa

Hydrastis canadensis

Psidium guajava

etc.,

 Our stride towards Curbing AMR!

Throughout our evolution, the importance of natural products for medicine and health has been enormous and use of herbs in animal health and well being cannot be denied. The past few years have fuelled interest in the use of natural compounds for overall health of the animals due to their safety and efficacy.

Ayurvet’s products are used since last three decades to produce value added animal products with reduced usage of antibiotics.

A combination of ingredient herbs, extracts and essential oils are in best synergy, and are validated in different geographical location for its efficacy in biological convertors. There are a wide range of solutions that can effectively replace antibiotic growth promoters and bring about desirable beneficial effects in livestock and poultry.

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