A new editorial published in Animal Diseases argues that climate change is reshaping the dynamics of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in animal diseases, calling for a One Health approach that integrates climate data, animal health monitoring, and environmental surveillance. The article, titled "Climate change and AMR in animal diseases: a one health perspective on emerging global risks" (DOI: 10.1186/s44149-026-00255-5), positions non-typhoidal Salmonella as a sentinel pathogen to illustrate how warming temperatures, extreme precipitation, and intensive farming systems can connect resistant bacteria across animals, environments, and humans.
Traditionally, AMR control has focused on antimicrobial stewardship and infection control, but the editorial contends that these measures alone are insufficient as climate change weakens ecological barriers. Rising temperatures can accelerate bacterial growth and horizontal gene transfer, while floods and runoff can disperse antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) through agricultural systems, sewage, and waterways. The authors describe a "One Health–climate convergence nexus" where Salmonella and ARGs circulate among hospitals, farms, food products, and watersheds, with climate change intensifying this loop through heat-related physiological effects and weather-driven contamination.
The editorial is supported by a companion global genomic study published in The Lancet Planetary Health in 2026, which analyzed 488,232 Salmonella genomes from 139 countries spanning 1940–2023. The study found that global average ARG abundance in Salmonella increased by 38%, with climate change associated with a 10% rise. Future modeling suggested that low-emission pathways combined with strengthened antibiotic stewardship could reduce Salmonella ARGs by 24% compared to high-emission scenarios. These findings underscore the need for climate-informed genomic surveillance and targeted animal-health interventions.
The authors emphasize that antimicrobial stewardship remains foundational, but it must be paired with climate data, animal-health monitoring, and environmental surveillance. Veterinary services can use climate signals to identify high-risk periods for outbreaks, while public-health agencies can integrate genomic data with rainfall, temperature, and livestock data. Food-safety systems should strengthen monitoring after floods or heat waves that may mobilize resistant bacteria. For low- and middle-income countries, the work highlights the need for affordable sequencing and fair data-sharing agreements.
The editorial calls for a shift from reacting to resistant infections to anticipating where risks may intensify, treating climate mitigation, animal health, sanitation, and antibiotic stewardship as interconnected investments in global health security, especially in regions where climate vulnerability and AMR burden overlap.
