New report projects toll of antimicrobial resistance on food security, global economy

A new report from the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) illustrates the devastating impact that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could have on food-producing animals, food security, and the global economy.

Using data from 204 countries, the report estimates that, without further action to mitigate AMR, annual livestock production losses from drug-resistant bacteria could equal the consumption needs of 746 million people and result in a cumulative global gross domestic product (GDP) loss of $575 billion by 2050. Livestock losses would be heaviest in cattle and poultry meat production and more pronounced in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)

That's in a scenario of very low resistance. In a more pessimistic scenario, the modeling study estimates AMR could jeopardize the food supply of more than 2 billion people and lead to a cumulative GDP loss of $953 billion. Furthermore, the potential spread of resistant pathogens from food-producing animals to people—and the resulting impact on human productivity—could cause cumulative GDP losses ranging from $1.1 trillion to $5.2 trillion by 2050.

AMR impact 'cannot be overlooked'

The report, released this week ahead of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on AMR, is the first to comprehensively forecast the health and economic burden of AMR on food-producing animals. It was released together with two other reports from the EcoAMR consortium that forecast the health and economic impacts of AMR in humans.

WOAH Director-General Emmanuelle Soubeyran, DVM, said the results highlight the economic case for investment in the fight against AMR.

"The threat of drug-resistant infections to human health is widely recognized but the impact of AMR on the health of animals, our environment and our economy cannot be overlooked," Soubeyran said in a WOAH press release. "For the first time, we have an idea of exactly what's at stake unless the global community takes urgent action now."

Produced by experts at WOAH, RAND Europe, Animal Industry Data, and Birmingham City University, the forecast simulates how common livestock bacterial diseases, and treatment failure resulting from resistant infections, would affect production in different livestock sectors. The model focused on cattle, chicken, and swine and five different goods from those sectors (cattle meat, cattle milk, swine meat, chicken meat, and chicken eggs).