Antibiotic Resistance in Food Animals in Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objectives: This study critically reviewed the published literature and performed a meta-analysis to determine the overall burden of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in food animals in Africa.

Methods: English and French published articles indexed in EBSCOhost, PubMed, Web of Science, and African Journals Online were retrieved, with searches being conducted up to August, 2015. Data were pooled and meta-analysis performed using a random-effects model, and the results are described as event rates.

Results: According to the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 17 articles out of the 852 retrieved were eligible for the qualitative and quantitative analysis. The studies included were mainly conducted in Nigeria, with Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and Campylobacter spp. being the main bacteria. The pooled estimates showed high level of antibiotic resistance (ABR) (86%; p < 0.001) and multidrug resistance (73%; p = 0.003).

Conclusion: Our results suggest that ABR is substantively prevalent and poses a serious threat for food safety and security in Africa. These findings shed light on areas for future research concerning antibiotic-resistant and multidrug-resistant bacteria in food animals as etiological agents of infectious diseases in humans. They further yielded some interesting findings on the burden of ABR that could be useful in developing measures to contain this threat in the farm-to-plate continuum in Africa.