Dynamics of AMR Spread, Persistence and Evolution Between Humans, Animals and Their Environment

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global and multifaceted public health problem. Advanced knowledge on AMR has demonstrated that it not only affects humans but is also widely distributed across animals and the environment. A major cause of the AMR burden refers to the capability of AMR to transmit within and between individuals, including between humans and animals. Leading examples of internationally distributed AMR bacteria are Enterobacterial disseminating resistances to extended-spectrum cephalosporins (ESC-E) and carbapenems (CP-E). Yet, the magnitude and pathways of their cross-sectorial transfers are poorly understood.

There is a great concern that humans in contact with animals be at risk of ESC-E/CP-E acquisition. Whereas an increase in ESC-E carriage in farmers in contact with their food-producing animals was reported, AMR transmission to humans through direct contacts with companion animals has been much less studied. Owing the close relationships between pets and owners, and the fact that 50% of households host a dog or a cat in France, the hypothesis of pet ownership being a risk for humans to acquire ESC-E/CP-E appears strongly relevant. The DYASPEO project will investigate this question through a combination of several approaches from field to laboratory studies, and including epidemiology, ecology, molecular and population genomics, studies on intestinal microbiota, modelling and social sciences.

We hypothesize that the interface between humans and companion animals plays a significant role in the transfer of ESC-E/CP-E. This hypothesis is corroborated (i) by recent data in France showing that antibiotic exposure of companion animals is still increasing contrary to all other animal host (e.g. food-producing animals) and (ii) by a recent study from the consortium demonstrating a high AMR prevalence in dogs getting back home after hospitalization.