Antibiotic resistance in aquatic environments: implications for public health and aquaculture

The emergence of Antibiotic Resistance (AR) and polyresistance in infectious agents poses a significant global health threat. AR bacteria pose a potential Public Health (PH) threat due to their immediate spread to people by ingesting infected food or water or spreading their AR genomes to harmful microbes linked to Aquatic Environments (AE). Aquaculture is vital to address contemporary issues, including the demand for protein to sustain human populations and the imperative of environmental stewardship. The application of antibiotics in AE induces AR in the adjacent bacteria within the aquatic section, debris, and fish-associated bacteria cultures. Bacteria may disseminate AR genes and portable resistance genomes by crossing genes horizontally propagating genomic markers. Upon activation, AR rapidly disseminates throughout marine microbial populations and may infect public infectious bacteria, rendering antibiotic usage ineffective for PH. Strategies must be implemented to mitigate adverse effects on PH, with a decrease in the utilization of antibiotics as a central focus. The One Healthcare (OH) strategy, integrating diverse expertise in veterinary science, ecosystems, and healthcare while adhering to principles of sustainable development, is essential and highly advocated to address significant PH and ecological safety concerns in the AE.