Summary report on AMR in zoonotic and indicator bacteria from humans, animals and food in 2018/19

On 8 April 2021, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a report covering data on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in zoonotic and indicator bacteria in 2018/19, submitted by 28 EU member states. Resistance in bacterial isolates of zoonotic Salmonella and Campylobacter from humans, animals and food, and resistance in indicator Escherichia coli as well as in meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from animals and food were addressed and analysed jointly by the two agencies.

The report found that in humans, high proportions of resistance to ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic commonly used to treat several types of infections, were reported in a specific Salmonella type known as S. Kentucky (82.1%). In recent years, S. Enteritidis resistant to nalidixic acid and/or ciprofloxacin has been increasingly reported in several countries. The increasing occurrence of fluoroquinolone and/or quinolone resistance in these types of Salmonella probably reflects the spread of particularly resistant strains. In Campylobacter, resistance to ciprofloxacin is now so common in most countries that this antimicrobial has limited use in the treatment of infections in humans.

The report also found that during the period 2015-2019, a decline in resistance to ampicillin and tetracyclines has been observed in Salmonella isolates from humans in eight and eleven EU member states respectively.

Source: ECDC, 8 April 2021