A report published on Monday 6 March by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) confirmed that resistance of salmonella and campylobacter bacteria to commonly used antimicrobials is frequently observed in humans and animals.
The report found encouraging trends in several European countries between 2013 and 2021, including the increasing proportion of bacteria from food-producing animals that are susceptible to all antimicrobials tested, and the decreasing prevalence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases and AmpC beta-lactamases producing Escherichia coli bacteria.
A decrease in salmonella resistance to the antimicrobials ampicillin and tetracycline was also observed in humans in several European countries between 2013 and 2021.
However, the report also notes a trend of increasing resistance to ciprofloxacin in humans from Salmonella Enteritidis and Campylobacter Jejuni over the period 2013-2021.
Furthermore, while resistance of Escherichia coli to carbapenem - an antibiotic used as a last resort - remains rare in food animals and humans, ECDC and EFSA stress that resistance to carbapenem should be continuously monitored and investigated.
The Chief Scientists of ECDC and EFSA, Mike Catchpole and Carlos Das Neves, emphasise that through their joint work, these agencies were implementing the relevant ‘One Health ’ approach.
In addition, the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council organised a high-level conference on combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a Presidency priority, on 6-7 March in Sweden under the auspices of Crown Princess Victoria (see EUROPE 13092/2). The conference brings together experts, Swedish Minister for Health Jakob Forssmed, Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides and the heads of WHO Europe, ECDC and the European Medicines Agency.
Link to the ECDC-EFSA report: https://aeur.eu/f/5n9 (Original version in French by Emilie Vanderhulst)