Abstract
To implement effective stewardship in food animal production, it is essential that producers and veterinarians are aware of preventive interventions to reduce illness in livestock. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SR/MA) provide transparent, replicable, and quality-assessed overviews. At present, it is unknown how many SR/MA evaluate preventive antibiotic use or management practices aimed at reducing disease risk in animal agriculture. Further, the quality of existing reviews is unknown. Our aim was to identify reviews investigating these topics and to provide an assessment of their quality. Thirty-eight relevant reviews were identified. Quality assessment was based on the AMSTAR 2 framework for the critical appraisal of systematic reviews. The quality of most of the reviews captured was classified as critically low (84.2%, n = 32/38), and only a small percentage of the evaluated reviews did not contain critical weaknesses (7.9%, n = 3/38). Particularly, a small number of reviews reported the development of an a priori protocol (15.8%, n = 6/38), and few reviews stated that key review steps were conducted in duplicate (study selection/screening: 26.3%, n = 10/38; data extraction: 15.8%, n = 6/38). The development of high-quality reviews summarizing evidence on approaches to antibiotic reduction is essential, and thus greater adherence to quality conduct guidelines for synthesis research is crucial.
Highlights
Antibiotics are a crucial tool for both the prevention and treatment of diseases in humans (WHO, 2015) and in animals (FAO, 2016; Organization for Animal Health (OIE), 2016)
In response to this threat, plans to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) have been developed by major international organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO) (WHO, 2012, 2015), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (FAO, 2016), and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) (OIE, 2016)
In modern food animal production systems, antibiotics are used both for disease prevention and treatment (WHO, 2012, 2015; Laxminarayan et al, 2013), and may be administered at the group level (WHO, 2012)
Summary
Antibiotics are a crucial tool for both the prevention and treatment of diseases in humans (WHO, 2015) and in animals (FAO, 2016; OIE, 2016). There are growing global concerns about antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the threat that AMR poses for the continuing efficacy of treatments for many important infectious diseases (FAO, 2016) In response to this threat, plans to combat AMR have been developed by major international organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO) (WHO, 2012, 2015), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (FAO, 2016), and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) (OIE, 2016). A major concern is that the widespread use of antibiotics in animal agriculture will accelerate resistance to important treatment options for infectious diseases in humans and animals For those microorganisms that affect animals, the implications of AMR include increased morbidity and mortality, reduced animal welfare, and production losses in livestock industries (Laxminarayan et al, 2013; WHO, 2015)
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