Keywords
Agriculture
Antimicrobial resistance
Land-use change
Emerging infectious diseases
Climate change
Categories
How to Cite
Abstract
Zoonotic diseases constitute more than 75% of emerging infectious diseases, with bacterial pathogens representing a substantial and growing proportion of this burden. Agricultural practices—encompassing intensive livestock production, antimicrobial use, land-use change, and expansion into wildlife habitats—have emerged as primary drivers of bacterial zoonosis emergence, amplification, and dissemination. This narrative review synthesizes current evidence on how modern agriculture facilitates the spillover, evolution, and transmission of bacterial zoonotic pathogens, including Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp., Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC), livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA), Brucella spp., Coxiella burnetii, Leptospira spp., Mycobacterium bovis, and emerging multidrug-resistant organisms such as carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii. We examine the mechanisms by which agricultural intensification, antimicrobial misuse, land-use change, and climate interactions create favorable conditions for pathogen emergence and cross-species transmission. The review further discusses transmission pathways—direct contact, foodborne routes, environmental contamination, and vector-mediated spread—and the critical role of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in exacerbating the public health impact of agricultural zoonoses. Finally, we evaluate One Health-based mitigation strategies, including antimicrobial stewardship, biosecurity enhancement, surveillance integration, and policy interventions, and identify research gaps and priorities for future action.
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