Understanding Agricultural Antibiotic Use and Antimicrobial Resistance Ecologies in Eastern Rural China

Abstract

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a global public health threat which has been increasingly recognised as a problem of connectedness between humans, animals and the environment, or what has been described as a “One Health” issue. However, previous studies on AMR have primarily focused on bacterial or genetic evidence of resistance, while research addressing its social dimensions has mainly focused on patterns and drivers of human or animal antibiotic use. There is a notable lack of an integrated understanding which addresses the situated social context of human-animal-environmental linkages in AMR development and transmission.

This ethnographic study focuses on everyday sites of rural China to provide contextualised understandings of both antibiotic use in animal agriculture and the linkages involved in AMR transmission ecologies. I examine the context of antibiotic use through engaging with local veterinary systems, animal care, disease prevention and medicinal treatment practices. I then explore potential “leakages” of antibiotics and AMR through examining local management and networks of animal waste and broader material relationships within local agricultural livelihoods.

This study situates antibiotic use in animal agriculture within local veterinary care and medicine supply systems, which are shaped by sociopolitical background and governance structures. I show how the practices of antibiotic use on farms emerge within the web of socioecological conditions of food production, disease prevention and animal healthcare infrastructure. I furthermore demonstrate how a material-centred perspective on medicines could be drawn on to situate potential AMR transmission ecologies within waste management and pollution control as forms of metabolic intimacy across human animal and environment.

This study acknowledges the multifaceted dynamics and biosocial linkages across One Health domains. It offers insights into drivers of antibiotic use in animals and AMR in rural China, which can inform actions, systems and policies aiming to reduce the burden of AMR in China and globally.

Date of Award	4 Feb 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Helen S Lambert (Supervisor), Juan Zhang (Supervisor) & Wenjuan Cong (Supervisor)