Apparently Healthy Chicken and Farm Wastewater as Potential Reservoirs for Antimicrobial Resistance Enterobacteriaceae: A Food Safety Concern

The study shows that apparently healthy chickens and farm wastewater can act as significant reservoirs and transmission pathways for antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. In commercial poultry farms in Bangladesh, researchers detected a high prevalence of multidrug-resistant organisms in both chickens and surrounding wastewater, indicating continuous environmental contamination. These bacteria carried resistance to multiple commonly used antibiotics, suggesting strong selective pressure from antimicrobial use in livestock. The findings highlight that farm environments facilitate the persistence and spread of resistant pathogens beyond animals into the wider ecosystem, posing potential risks to human health. Overall, the study reinforces the need for stricter antibiotic stewardship in agriculture and integrated One Health surveillance targeting both animals and environmental sources to limit AMR dissemination.