Source: Larson Bricher, MEATINGPLACE, 3/1/18


Bacteria from humans and animals continue to show resistance to antimicrobials, according to a new report by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The report highlights some emerging issues and confirms antimicrobial resistance as one of the biggest threats to public health, mainly by reducing the effectiveness of treatment options.

Among the new findings, based on data from 2016, are detection of resistance to carbapenems in poultry, an antibiotic that is not authorized for use in animals, and of ESBL-producing Salmonella Kentucky with high resistance to ciprofloxacin in humans, which was reported for the first time in four European Union (EU) countries.

In a news release about the report, EFSA and ECDC scientists commented that the findings raise several pressing concerns. Marta Hugas, EFSA’s chief scientist, said, “The detection of resistance to carbapenems in poultry and to linezolid in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in pigs is alarming because these antibiotics are used in humans to treat serious infections. It is important that risk managers follow-up on these findings.”
ECDC chief scientist Mike Catchpole expressed concern that Salmonella and Campylobacter bacteria in humans show high levels of antimicrobial resistance. “The fact that we keep detecting multidrug-resistant bacteria means that the situation is not improving. We need to investigate the origins and prevent the spread of highly resistant strains, such as ESBL-producing Salmonella Kentucky,” Catchpole said.

The EFSA/ECDC report’s main findings on antimicrobial resistance associated with animals and food include:
• Resistance to carbapenem antibiotics was detected at very low level in poultry and in chicken meat in two Member States (fifteen E. coli bacteria). Carbapenems are used to treat serious infections in humans and are not authorized for use in animals.
• Two livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria found in pigs were reported to be linezolid-resistant. Linezolid is one of the last-resort antimicrobials for the treatment of infections caused by highly-resistant MRSA.
• Combined clinical resistance to critically important antimicrobials was observed at low to very low levels in Salmonella (0.2%), Campylobacter (1%) and E. coli (1%) in poultry.
• Resistance to colistin was observed at low levels (2%) in Salmonella and E. coli in poultry.
• Prevalence of ESBL-producing E. coli in poultry varies markedly between the Member States, from low (less than 10%) to extremely high levels (more than 70%). Bacteria that produce ESBL enzymes show multi-drug resistance to β-lactam antibiotics – a class of broad spectrum antibiotics which include penicillin derivatives, cephalosporins and carbapenems. This is the first time that the presence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing E. coli was monitored in poultry and poultry meat.
• According to the report, antibiotic resistance in humans continues to be a public health threat. The report indicates that one out of four infections in humans is caused by Salmonella bacteria that show resistance to three or more antimicrobials commonly used in human and animal medicine. The proportion is significantly higher in S. Kentucky and S. Infantis (76.3 percent and 39.4 percent, respectively). In addition, ESBL-producing S. Kentucky with high resistance to ciprofloxacin was detected in four countries for the first time.
Campylobacter bacteria, which cause the most common foodborne disease in the EU, show high resistance to widely used antibiotics (ciprofloxacin resistance 54.6 percent in C. jejuni and 63.8 percent in C. coli; tetracyline resistance 42.8 percent in C. jejuni and 64.8 percent in C. coli). In some EU countries, at least one in three C. coli infections were multidrug-resistant to important antibiotics, leaving very few treatment options for severe infections, the report said.

Read the summary report online at the EFSA Journal.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com