Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in livestock is a growing global health concern with important implications for food security, human and animal health. However, the spatial distribution and determinants of AMR in livestock systems remain insufficiently characterised. This study examined spatial patterns and contributions of selected AMR drivers in livestock AMR, using data from the ResistanceBank database, which encompasses livestock species, bacterial pathogens, and antimicrobial categories. This study included all data compiled in the Resistancebank database, including prevalence studies published between 2000 and 2021 and 33,186 resistance data points compiled from 93 countries. Spatial dependence was evaluated using Global and Local Moran's I statistics, while the influence of livestock species, pathogens, and antimicrobial classes was analysed using beta regression and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) machine learning models. The spatial analysis includes only countries listed in the Resistancebank database and displays them. Global Moran's I revealed significant positive spatial autocorrelation in AMR proportions (I = 0.1911, p = 0.0246; Z-score = 1.9676, expected I = - 0.0127), indicating geographic clustering of resistance. High-high clusters were identified across South and East Asia, the Middle East, parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, and South America, whereas low-low clusters occurred in Southern Africa, Southeast Asia, and several European regions. Beta regression showed that cattle (β = -0.5953, p = 0.0263) and sheep (β = -0.7873, p = 0.0034) contributed less to AMR variation than buffalo, whereas highly important antimicrobials were associated with increased proportions of resistance (β = 0.3365, p < 0.0001). The XGBoost model demonstrated slightly better predictive performance (Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) = 0.3428) than beta regression (RMSE = 0.3471). These findings reveal pronounced spatial clustering of AMR in livestock and underscore the need for strengthened global surveillance, improved antimicrobial stewardship and integrated One Health strategies to mitigate the spread of AMR.
Omotoso et al. (Wed,) studied this question.