University of Liverpool Healthy Horse AMR Project

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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the biggest challenges facing both human and veterinary
medicine. As bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, infections become increasingly difficult to treat, highlighting the need to monitor how resistant organisms emerge and spread.

While national surveillance programmes already track antimicrobial resistance in livestock, there is currently no equivalent scheme for healthy horses in the UK. Researchers at the University of Liverpool hope to address this gap and are inviting horse owners, trainers, carers and others responsible for horses in England to take part in a new study.

Healthy horses can carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria without showing any signs of illness. These bacteria include methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and strains of Escherichia coli that are resistant to important antibiotics, including cephalosporins. Because resistant bacteria can spread between animals, people and the environment, identifying them in healthy horses could provide an early warning of emerging resistance before it becomes a wider health problem.

The Healthy Horse AMR project, led by researchers at the University of Liverpool's Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, aims to establish how common antimicrobial resistance is in healthy horses in England. The findings will provide valuable baseline data and help develop practical, sustainable methods for monitoring resistance in the equine population.

The research team is also investigating the clinical and environmental factors that contribute to the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance, alongside the development of new antimicrobial treatment strategies.

Horse owners can support the project by collecting a faecal sample from their horse using a free sampling kit supplied by the researchers and returning it to the laboratory by post.

To be eligible, horses must be kept in England, must not be receiving antibiotics at the time of sampling and must not have been admitted to hospital during the previous 10 days.

The team is also recruiting a small number of horses to take part in a related nasal swab study. Owners interested in either study can register through the project's online sign-up form.

For more details, see:

https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/infection-veterinary-and-ecological-sciences/research/healthy-horse-amr/