Sources and routes of spread of antibiotic resistance of bacteria

This paper describes the transfer of the genetic material (genes) encoding antibiotic resistance from resistant to susceptible bacteria, pathogenic to animals or zoonotic ones. The sources include animals, as well as faeces, manure, slurry, soil, water sources and the food chain, particularly meat, meat products, milk and milk products. The authors outline monitoring programmes for antibiotic use and the antibiotic resistance of bacteria in animals, food and humans in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Canada and the USA. Measures against the increasing antibiotic resistance of bacteria are discussed, and difficulties due to the complexity of this problem are enumerated. It is recommended that the application of antibiotics in veterinary medicine be minimized and that thay be replaced by vaccines, whenever possible. It is also noted that the participation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria of strictly human origin in causing infections in humans is higher than that of antibiotic-resistant bacteria originating from animals. These bacteria also cause more difficulties in antibiotic therapy of human bacterial diseases. According to the American Academy of Microbiology, cited in the paper, factors that determine the development and spread of the antibiotic resistance of bacteria are complex, multifactorial and largely unknown. Therefore, further research is necessary.