One Health approach, a solution to reducing the menace of multidrug-resistant bacteria and zoonoses from domesticated animals in Nigeria – A review

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance and zoonoses are leading public health challenges the world is currently battling. However, the continuous use of antibiotics for veterinary care in companion animals, including fish and dogs among others, has increased the prevalence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria of zoonotic potential. Domesticated animals are tamed animals that are kept by humans as companion animals, food sources or work animals, and live in close proximity to humans. They have been documented as potential sources of MDR pathogens. The establishment of a national surveillance database for MDR bacteria in humans, animals and the environment will help understand the true burden of MDR pathogens in developing countries, like Nigeria. It will also help identify possible ways to curb them and fill the knowledge gap in the global epidemiological map. The One Health approach to curbing the spread of MDR and zoonotic pathogens by determining the human-animal-environment transmission holds a great advantage in tackling and reducing the prevalence of these pathogens in Nigeria. The regulation of antibiotic use in animals and the implementation of good hygiene are possible ways to reduce the incidence and spread of MDR bacteria and zoonoses.