Collaborative Research: Agricultural antibiotics and human health: A multi-scale ecological approach to the development and spread of antibiotic resistance

在动物中使用抗生素和在人类中传播抗生素耐药性之间的因果联系涉及复杂的生态过程，包括耐药性的发展、种内和种间传播、动物和人类群体之间的循环以及促进或抑制这种循环和传播的行为和经济条件。这项研究将着眼于厄瓜多尔北部沿海地区抗生素耐药性传播的生态和演变，那里的道路建设和森林砍伐正在导致农村社区小规模家禽养殖的涌入。该研究区域提供了一个独特的机会来调查环境在家庭、村庄和景观规模的抗生素耐药性演变中的作用，并将利用我们在分子和微生物生态学、流行病学、数学建模和人种学方面的专业知识。在畜牧业中大量使用抗生素是造成全球日益严重的抗生素耐药性问题的主要原因，对动物和人类健康都构成威胁。了解抗生素耐药性产生和传播所涉及的生态过程对于设计有效的干预计划至关重要。研究团队将包括密歇根大学和旧金山基多大学(USFQ)的研究生。将为社区卫生工作者举办培训和定期卫生教育讲习班，并与厄瓜多尔地方、省和国家各级的卫生部工作人员分享研究结果。

The causal linkages between the use of antibiotics in animals and the spread of antibiotic resistance in humans involve complex ecological processes, including the development of resistance, within- and between-species spread, circulation amongst animal and human populations, and the behavioral and economic conditions that foster or inhibit this circulation and spread. This study will look at the ecology and evolution of the spread of antibiotic resistance in northern coastal Ecuador, where road-building and deforestation are leading to an influx of small-scale poultry farming in rural communities. The study area offers a unique opportunity to investigate the role of the environment in the evolution of antibiotic resistance at the household, village and landscape scales and will draw on our expertise in molecular and microbial ecology, epidemiology, mathematical modeling, and ethnography. Intensive antibiotic usage in animal husbandry is a major contributor to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance worldwide, posing threats to both animal and human health. Understanding the ecological processes involved in the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance is crucial in designing effective intervention programs. The research team will include graduate students at the University of Michigan and the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ). There will be training and periodic health education workshops for community health workers, and the sharing of findings with health ministry employees at the local, provincial and national levels in Ecuador.