Phage Therapy to Reduce AMR Enterobacteria Spread from a One Health Perspective

The 'One Health' approach recognises the close connection of human and animal health and the environment. Multidrug resistant (MDR) pathogens, e.g. Salmonella and E. coli in poultry and related foods are increasingly becoming a global public health concern. Antibiotic use in animal husbandry has to be reduced to counteract spread of MDR plasmids among zoonotic pathogens in food-producing animals and the risk of transmission of MDR bacteria to humans and the environment.

We will demonstrate the potential of a bacteriophage-based intervention to control and reduce the incidence of MDR zoonotic pathogens in broilers in a commercial farm environment and their release into environmental reservoirs. The use of an advanced targeted phage delivery system via animal feed will impact on reduced spread of MDR bacteria and relevant plasmids in broilers as well as their transmission to humans or to the environment.

Conjugative plasmid-encoded pilus-specific phages will help to selectively target MDR plasmid-carrying bacteria without markedly affecting the overall intestinal microbiome composition. We will study the circulation of MDR plasmids among coliform enterobacteria and the effects of phage therapy, by initially using a novel ex-vivo chicken gut model and then on a chicken farm.

For early detection, assessment of treatment or prevention of spread of MDR Salmonella or E. coli in broiler flocks, we will develop easy to use on-site detection tools based on PCR/LAMP/CRISPR-Cas assays for determining the presence of conjugative plasmids, antibiotic resistance genes and virulence markers.