Abstract:
This paper reviews the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in insects, rodents, and
pets. Insects (e.g., houseflies, cockroaches), rodents (rats, mice), and pets (dogs, cats) act as reservoirs
of AMR for first-line and last-resort antimicrobial agents. AMR proliferates in insects, rodents, and
pets, and their skin and gut systems. Subsequently, insects, rodents, and pets act as vectors that
disseminate AMR to humans via direct contact, human food contamination, and horizontal gene
transfer. Thus, insects, rodents, and pets might act as sentinels or bioindicators of AMR. Human
health risks are discussed, including those unique to low-income countries. Current evidence on
human health risks is largely inferential and based on qualitative data, but comprehensive statistics
based on quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) are still lacking. Hence, tracing human
health risks of AMR to insects, rodents, and pets, remains a challenge. To safeguard human health,
mitigation measures are proposed, based on the one-health approach. Future research should include
human health risk analysis using QMRA, and the application of in-silico techniques, genomics,
network analysis, and ’big data’ analytical tools to understand the role of household insects, rodents,
and pets in the persistence, circulation, and health risks of AMR.
