Cow Nutrition as a Preventive Component of Antimicrobial Resistance Control and Food Safety in Cattle Production: A One Health Evidence Synthesis.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an One Health challenge for human health, animal health, environmental health and the safety of foods of animal origin. Antimicrobials are used in cattle production for infectious and production diseases such as mastitis, diarrhoea, respiratory disease, lameness, and metabolic disorders. Antimicrobial stewardship programs are targeted at rational drug use, veterinary oversight and withdrawal periods, but nutritional management is an crucial preventive factor that can affect disease susceptibility and antimicrobial treatment pressure.

This structured narrative evidence synthesis examine the role of cattle nutrition in AMR control and food safety from a One Health perspective. Peer-reviewed literature and international One Health guidance were reviewed using targeted search terms related to cattle nutrition, rumen health, gut microbiota, immune function, antimicrobial use, antimicrobial resistance, milk safety, meat safety, and foodborne transmission. The evidence was organized into four pathways: effects of nutrition on immune competence, rumen and intestinal microbial stability, metabolic health and disease occurrence, and antimicrobial-related food safety risks.

In the reviewed literature, the positive effects of balanced feeding and forage quality, of preventing negative energy balance and of appropriate supplementation with vitamins and minerals on immune system, rumen stability, and metabolic resilience are confirmed. Optimizing nutrition can help prevent and lessen the impact of diseases often associated with antimicrobial treatment, helping to reduce antimicrobial selection pressure in the farm environment. Lowering the pressure of antimicrobial use could also contribute positively to food safety by reducing the chances of having antimicrobials in food, reducing the spread of resistance in the farm environment and in the wider food chain through manure, milk and meat. But there is limited direct intervention research that relates nutrition interventions to measurable decreases in AMR.

Cow nutrition is therefore a practical preventive pillar of integrated AMR control and One Health food safety strategies in cattle production.