Brussels, 27/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - The bacteria Salmonella and Campylobacter, which are the most common cause of food poisoning, show high levels of resistance to antibiotics currently used in humans and animals, a report published on Thursday 26 February by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Protection and Control (ECDC) has confirmed. Both agencies described the situation as worrying, because it means that effective treatment options are reduced as these types of bacteria (called “isolates”) continue to show resistance to antimicrobial drugs.
The EFSA-ECDC summary report, Findings in antimicrobial resistance in humans, animals and foods, interpret 2013 data on the basis of similar criteria for the first time. “This is a step forward in the fight against antimicrobial resistance”, said Marta Hugas of EFSA.
Amongst other things, the findings show that multi-drug resistance Salmonella isolates continue to spread throughout Europe and that considerable resistance to ciprofloxacin among Campylobacter isolates, both in humans and animals, has been reported in certain member states.
It's not all bad news, however: levels of co-resistance to critically important antimicrobials for both bacteria remain low.
“The high levels of resistance to fluoroquinolones observed in Campylobacter isolates from both humans and broilers are of concern considering that a large proportion of human Campylobacter infections come from handling, preparation and consumption of broiler meat. Such high resistance levels reduce the effective treatment options for severe human Campylobacter infections”, Mike Catchpole, chief scientist at ECDC, sums up in a press release.
This means that the resistance of Salmonella to commonly used antimicrobials has frequently been detected in humans and animals (particularly broiler chickens and turkeys) and in meat-based derivative products. Multi-drug resistance was high (31.8% in people, 56% in broilers, 73% in turkeys and 37.9% in fattening pigs). The persistent spread of especially multi-drug-resistant clones, reported for isolates present in both people and animals (broilers, pigs and cattle), is worrying.
Resistance to commonly used antimicrobials, which has been observed in Campylobacter isolates, was frequently detected in people and animals (particularly in broilers, pigs and cattle). In food, resistance has been detected in broiler meat. Resistance to ciprofloxacin, an antimicrobial of critical importance, was particularly high in people (meaning reduced treatment options for serious infections by these zoonotic bacteria). As for Campylobacter jejuni, more than half of the isolates present in both humans and broiler chickens (54.6% and 54.5% respectively) were also resistant in cattle, at a level of 35.8%. For Campylobacter coli, two thirds of isolates present in people and broilers (66.6% and 68.8% respectively) were resistant, as were 31.1% of the isolates present in pigs.
Levels of co-resistance to critically important antimicrobials in Salmonella were low (0.2% in humans, 0.3% in broilers and none at all in fattening pigs and turkeys). For Campylobacter isolates, multi-drug resistance and co-resistance to critically important antimicrobials were generally reported at low to moderate levels in animals (0.5% and 1.1% respectively in Campylobacter jejuni isolates from broilers and cattle, and 12.3% and 19.5% respectively in Campylobacter coli isolates from broilers and fattening pigs) and low in humans (1.7% for Campylobacter jejuni and 4.1% for Campylobacter coli).
The report also contains data on resistance in indicator Escherichia coli, indicator enterococci and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, in animals and food. (Aminata Niang)