Abstract
Through recent decades, the subtherapeutic use of antibiotics within agriculture has led to the widespread development of antimicrobial resistance. This problem not only impacts the productivity and sustainability of current agriculture but also has the potential to transfer antimicrobial resistance to human pathogens via the food supply chain. An increasingly popular alternative to antibiotics is bacteriophages to control bacterial diseases. Their unique bactericidal properties make them an ideal alternative to antibiotics, as many countries begin to restrict the usage of antibiotics in agriculture. This review analyses recent evidence from within the past decade on the efficacy of phage therapy on common foodborne pathogens, namely, Escherica coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., and Campylobacter jejuni. This paper highlights the benefits and challenges of phage therapy and reveals the potential for phages to control bacterial populations both in food processing and livestock and the possibility for phages to replace subtherapeutic usage of antibiotics in the agriculture sector.
Highlights
Antibiotics have been used in animal and crop production as prophylaxis to minimize the risk of disease, increase weight gain livestock, and enable confined livestock production
Studies have found the presence of AMR in animal products, suggesting the possibility of gene transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) from agriculture to human pathogens and contributing to the development of AMR in clinical diseases [1,2]
In addition to affecting food-borne illnesses, the agricultural use of the same antibiotics used to treat clinical cases has been suggested to result in a zoonotic transfer of AMR to human-infecting pathogens [12,24,27], with S. aureus isolates from pig farmers possessing more resistance to tetracyclines than nonrelated personnel [13]
Summary
Antibiotics have been used in animal and crop production as prophylaxis to minimize the risk of disease, increase weight gain livestock, and enable confined livestock production. Due to the improper use of antibiotics, there has been an increase in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in food products and animals, resulting in a spike in foodborne bacteria. More potent antibiotics need to be developed, but their subsequent misuse only results in a positive feedback loop cultivating stronger AMR This impacts the control of disease in the food production industry, mainly affecting the health and productivity of livestock. Microorganisms 2022, 10, 46 there has been increased research on alternatives to antibiotics while maintaining health and productivity. Countries include Canada, the USA, Switzerland, Israel, Australia, processing and food products. Through analysis of the evolution of AMR in agriculture, the bactericidal effects of bacteriophages, the possibility of phage resistance, and current challenges to phage therapy, this paper will compare phage therapy to agricultural antibiotics and the potential to replace or work in tandem with antibiotics to protect the health and productivity of agriculture
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