Aquatic environments in the One Health context: modulating the antimicrobial resistance phenomenon

Abstract

Abstract: From an anthropocentric perspective, aquatic environments are important to maintain health and survival, however, as they are sometimes managed based on misconception, they are considered a convergent pathway for anthropogenic residues and sanitation. Thus, it is observed that these ecosystems have been threatened by chemical pollution due to xenobiotics, especially from a more contemporary approach, by the selective pressure associated with antimicrobials. There are several studies that report the enrichment of antimicrobial resistant bacteria and mobilizable antimicrobial resistance genes in aquatic and adjacent ecosystems. From the perspective of the emerging and reemerging number of diseases related to the interplay of human, animal, and environmental factors, a new conception arose to address these issues holistically, which is known as the One Health approach. Scientific and political discourse on this conception should lead to effective action plans for preventing and controlling the spread of infectious diseases in open environment, including those impacted by anthropogenic activities. Therefore, nowadays, discussions on antimicrobial resistance are becoming broader and are requiring a multi-disciplinary view to address health and environmental challenges, which includes aquatic environment management. Water may represent one of the most important ecosystems for the in antimicrobial resistance phenomenon that arises when a dynamic and singular microbial community may be influenced by several characteristics. As antimicrobial substances do not all degrade at the same time under the same treatment, strategies concerning their removal from the environment should consider their individualized chemical characteristics.