Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of in the livestock industry in South Korea under a One Health perspective.

The emergence and global spread of the antimicrobial-resistant pose a significant public health challenge. Despite extensive research on clinical isolates, data on outside of hospital settings, particularly in livestock, remain limited. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence, antimicrobial resistance, and molecular characteristics of within the livestock production chain in South Korea, including farms, slaughterhouses, and markets. A total of 2940 samples were collected from pig- and cattle-associated sources, including animals, workers, carcasses, meat, and environmental sources. was isolated from 3.1 % of pig-associated samples ( = 50) and 7.0 % of cattle-associated samples ( = 92), with the highest prevalence observed during slaughter. None of the pig-associated isolates showed resistance to the tested antimicrobials, whereas 8.7 % ( = 8) of the cattle-associated isolates showed resistance to one or two antimicrobial agents. Multi-locus sequence typing using the 'Oxford' scheme revealed 64 distinct sequence types (STs) among the isolates, of which 42 were novel STs first reported in this study. Notably, the STs of four antimicrobial resistant isolates (ST2292, ST3476, ST3477, and ST3482) were genetically related to international human clinical clones. Although appears to be a transient colonizer rather than a primary resident of livestock, its presence in the food production chain poses transmission risks to humans via occupational exposure or food supply. These results highlight the necessity of a One Health-based surveillance to track the emergence of novel strains in the livestock sector. Research into genomic epidemiology, environmental reservoirs, and transmission dynamics remains warranted to gain deeper insights into the role of in the interconnected human-animal-environment interface.