Surveillance of antimicrobial resistance across livestock and environmental microbiomes

Abstract

This presented thesis focuses on identifying the nature of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) across a range of livestock production systems and environmental settings. The thesis comprises of 3 research chapters, one of which has been published as of the time of VIVA, as well as literature review and general discussion with overall conclusions. AMR is a key risk to not only human health but also to worldwide animal and planetary health. Evidence-based surveillance is an important past of improving our knowledge of not only AMR, but also the risk it poses and how to combat it. This thesis embraced a One Health approach to identify and characterise resistomes associated with agriculture and the environment. This work used a holistic approach to increase our understanding of AMR in farm environments including dairy calf houses and considered how fertilisers, specifically new generation sustainable fertilisers. can influence soil resistomes. Here we considered both the resistomes associated with dairy farming in particular neonatal calf rearing and novel practices in agriculture such as the introduction of a renewable struvite fertiliser produced from both human and agricultural waste streams. The work presented in this thesis utilised multiple approaches spanning both cultured based methods and culture independent techniques to shed a new light on several environments, considering the entirety of the resistomes.

Thesis is embargoed until 31 July 2025.

Date of Award	Jul 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Sponsors	Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
Supervisor	Sharon Huws (Supervisor) & Steven Morrison (Supervisor)