Genomic and Resistance Epidemiology of Gram-Negative Bacteria in Africa: a Systematic Review and Phylogenomic Analyses from a One Health Perspective

Antibiotic resistance (AR) remains a major threat to public and animal health globally. However, AR ramifications in developing countries are worsened by limited molecular diagnostics, expensive therapeutics, inadequate numbers of skilled clinicians and scientists, and unsanitary environments. The epidemiology of Gram-negative bacteria, their AR genes, and geographical distribution in Africa are described here. Data were extracted and analyzed from English-language articles published between 2015 and December 2019. The genomes and AR genes of the various species, obtained from the Pathosystems Resource Integration Center (PATRIC) and NCBI were analyzed phylogenetically using Randomized Axelerated Maximum Likelihood (RAxML) and annotated with Figtree. The geographic location of resistant clones/clades was mapped manually. Thirty species from 31 countries and 24 genera from 41 countries were analyzed from 146 articles and 3,028 genomes, respectively. Genes mediating resistance to β-lactams (including , , , , , and ), fluoroquinolones ( , , , and mutations, etc.), aminoglycosides (including and ), sulfonamides ( ), trimethoprim ( ), tetracycline [ (A/B/C/D/G/O/M/39)], colistin ( ), phenicols ( , ), and fosfomycin ( ) were mostly found in spp. and , and also in , , , , , etc., on mostly IncF-type, IncX , ColRNAI, and IncR plasmids, within 1 gene cassettes, insertion sequences, and transposons. Clonal and multiclonal outbreaks and dissemination of resistance genes across species and countries and between humans, animals, plants, and the environment were observed; ST103, ST101, ST1/2, and ST69/515 were common strains. Most pathogens were of human origin, and zoonotic transmissions were relatively limited. Antibiotic resistance (AR) is one of the major public health threats and challenges to effective containment and treatment of infectious bacterial diseases worldwide. Here, we used different methods to map out the geographical hot spots, sources, and evolutionary epidemiology of AR. , , , , , spp., , , , etc., were common pathogens shuttling AR genes in Africa. Transmission of the same clones/strains across countries and between animals, humans, plants, and the environment was observed. We recommend spp. or as better sentinel species for AR surveillance.