Abstract

South Asia is a major hotspot of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the situation of increasing AMR is alarming. Livestock, particularly poultry sectors are supposed to have the highest burden of AMR in animal health sectors. We reviewed published works about AMR in poultry farms in South Asia from 2005–2020, identifying 37 relevant articles. Published articles showed the high prevalence of AMR among poultry farms in South Asian countries, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. The pattern of resistance to antibiotics was found to vary with a higher degree of resistance to the most commonly used antibiotics such as ampicillin, tetracycline, streptomycin, and ciprofloxacin; and little or no resistance to less commonly used antibiotics such as amikacin and ceftriaxone. Antibiotics such as amikacin, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, and ceftriaxone antibiotics were effective against E. coli; ampicillin, enrofloxacin, colistin, chloramphenicol in Salmonella sps; azithromycin, chloramphenicol, and gentamicin in Campylobacter sps; chloramphenicol and vancomycin in Staphylococcus sps. However, all these available scientific publications were based on point prevalence studies and lacked a comprehensive baseline, which makes it difficult to get a clear insight into AMR among poultry farms in South Asia. Thus, nationwide comprehensive studies on antimicrobial resistance among poultry farms in South Asian countries are necessary to get a clear picture of AMR in poultry farms in South Asian nations and to inform policies related to infection prevention and control measures.