Wildlife as Sentinels and Vectors of Antimicrobial Resistance in a Changing Environment

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is universally recognized as one of the most pressing global health threats of the 21st century. While extensive research has historically focused on clinical settings, veterinary medicine, and livestock agriculture, the role of wildlife within the complex epidemiology of AMR remains a critical knowledge gap. Under the "One Health" framework, it is increasingly evident that wildlife populations are neither isolated nor immune to the anthropogenic spread of resistant determinants.

Insects and wild animals frequently interact with human-dominated landscapes—foraging in landfills, drinking from wastewater-contaminated sources, or inhabiting agricultural settings and borders. Consequently, they are inadvertently exposed to antimicrobial residues, resistant bacteria, and mobile genetic elements (MGEs). This continuous exposure transforms diverse wildlife species into potential reservoirs, melting pots, and vectors for AMR. Migratory species, such as birds and marine mammals, may even facilitate the transcontinental dissemination of resistance genes, bridging distant and otherwise disconnected ecosystems, a dynamic increasingly altered by changing migration routes driven by climate change and the environmental degradation of wildlife habitats.

Furthermore, wildlife can serve as valuable sentinels or bioindicators of environmental contamination, providing a clear reflection of the AMR pollution levels in a given habitat. Conversely, the direct impact of AMR on wildlife health itself, and its potential implications for species conservation, is a facet that requires much deeper investigation.

This Research Topic aims to consolidate current knowledge and present cutting-edge research on the intersection of AMR, wild animals, and a rapidly changing environment. We particularly encourage studies originating from or focusing on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where wildlife–human interfaces are often more intense and critical baseline data remain scarce.

Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following sub-themes:

• Epidemiological surveillance and prevalence of AMR in terrestrial, avian, and marine wildlife

• Genomic characterization of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and mobile genetic elements isolated from wild species, including the use of advanced metagenomic approaches and environmental DNA (eDNA) profiling

• The role of wildlife as bioindicators of environmental AMR pollution and anthropogenic impact

• Transmission dynamics of AMR at the human-livestock-wildlife interface

• The impact of a changing environment—spanning climate change, land-use change, urbanization, and habitat degradation—on the acquisition and dissemination of AMR by wildlife

• The potential impact of resistant infections on wildlife health, rehabilitation, and conservation efforts

• The involvement of zoo animals as reservoir for emerging zoonotic infections

We welcome the following article types: FAIR² Data, Hypothesis and Theory, Methods, Mini Review, Opinion, Original Research, Perspective, Review, Systematic Review, Technology and Code.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), Wildlife, One Health, Anthropogenic Pollution, Sentinel Species, Mobile Genetic Elements

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.