Environmental reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are increasingly recognized as important components of One Health surveillance. We explored antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) across agricultural environments on Réunion Island using high-throughput qPCR targeting 349 ARGs in 16 samples comprising manure, soils, water and vegetables. ARGs were widespread, with the highest richness and relative abundance in manure-amended soils and manure. ARG abundance was on average approximately 5-fold higher in amended than paired control soils. Among 60 ARGs classified as high risk to human health, 52 were detected, including 16 in water and 22 in raw vegetables. ARG profiles differed primarily among matrices. Antibiotic residues were detected in only five samples, and neither their occurrence nor Cu/Zn concentrations consistently mirrored ARG patterns. This exploratory screening identifies organically amended soils as compartments of particular interest and provides a baseline for targeted One Health surveillance of environmental AMR in tropical agroecosystems.
Antifungal resistance in Candida species has become a critical yet underrecognized public health challenge. While most efforts focus on hospital transmission and clinical antifungal use, growing evidence implicates environmental, animal-associated, and community niches in the emergence and spread of resistant Candida. Agricultural practices, ecosystem pollution, and wastewater contamination create selective conditions that can favor resistance beyond clinical exposure, while climate pressures reshape fungal adaptation and spread. This Opinion alerts the scientific and medical communities to the urgent need to broaden antifungal stewardship through a One Health lens, integrating environmental, clinical, and veterinary surveillance, policy and regulatory action, and attention to social determinants into resistance prevention. Addressing upstream ecological drivers is essential to contain the expanding threat of antifungal-resistant Candida and safeguard the effectiveness of current and future treatments.
Bats and their ectoparasites form complex host-vector systems capable of maintaining diverse bacterial pathogens, yet these interactions remain poorly characterized in the Caucasus. We conducted the first high-throughput molecular survey of bacterial and protozoan pathogens in bat ectoparasites in Armenia. A total of 450 ectoparasites (mites and ticks) collected from 72 bats were pooled into 189 samples and screened using microfluidic real-time PCR targeting 43 bacterial and protozoan pathogens. The ectoparasite community was dominated by Spinturnix myoti and S. psi , which showed structured but overlapping associations with Myotis blythii and Miniopterus pallidus . Bartonella DNA was detected in 34.4% of pools, whereas Rickettsia spp. was rare (1.1%). At the bat level, 62.5% of individuals carried Bartonella -positive ectoparasites. Bartonella detection frequency in pools varied significantly among ectoparasite taxa, with Spinturnix mites showing approximately higher odds of Bartonella DNA detection than Macronyssus granulosus . Life stage was a strong predictor of DNA detection, with adult mites far more frequently positive than immature stages. Host species, region, and sex did not significantly influence pool positivity. These findings highlight the potentially relevant association of spinturnicid mites in Bartonella circulation within Armenian bat colonies requiring further study and provide essential baseline data for understanding the ecology of vector-borne bacteria in the Transcaucasia.
