EU Report Raises Concerns About Increasingly Drug-Resistant Foodborne Bacteria
AMR is considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be one of the top ten health challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. Some estimates suggest that, by 2050, approximately 300 million people may die prematurely due to drug resistance.
According to a new joint report from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), AMR in common foodborne bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter remains an urgent public health concern across Europe. At the same time, several countries have reported progress in reducing resistance levels in humans and in food-producing animals.
The report includes AMR data from 2023–2024 submitted by 27 EU Member States, the UK (Northern Ireland), and five non-EU countries. EFSA has published an interactive dashboard visualizing the data.
As the excessive use of antibiotics in farmed animals is one of the leading sources of AMR infection in humans, the new findings highlight the importance of continued action to address AMR under the One Health approach, recognizing the interconnectedness of human health, animal health, and food production.
Widespread Ciprofloxacin Resistance in Salmonella, Campylobacter
A high proportion of Campylobacter and Salmonella from both humans and food-producing animals continue to show resistance to ciprofloxacin, an important antimicrobial used to treat severe infections in humans. Concerningly, while resistance to ciprofloxacin in Salmonella from food-producing animals has been consistently high, resistance in human Salmonella infections has increased in recent years, limiting the effectiveness of available treatment options.
In Campylobacter, ciprofloxacin resistance is now so widespread in Europe that the drug is no longer recommended for the treatment of human infections. To safeguard its continued effectiveness in human medicine, restrictions have been placed on its use in animals.
Across Europe, a high proportion of Salmonella and Campylobacter from both humans and targeted food-producing animals also show resistance to commonly used antimicrobials, including ampicillin, tetracyclines, and sulfonamides.
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Resistance to Last-Resort Drug Increasing Among E. coli
Furthermore, the detection of carbapenemase-producing Escherichia coli bacteria in food-producing animals and meat in several countries is increasing. Carbapenems are last-resort antimicrobials for humans and are not authorized for use in food-producing animals. Further investigation into the sources of resistance is needed.
Some Trends Show Declining Resistance to Specific Antimicrobials
Positively, several countries have reported declining resistance to specific antimicrobials over time, showing that targeted efforts can make a difference.
For Salmonella, resistance in bacteria from humans to ampicillin and tetracyclines decreased significantly over the past ten years in 19 and 14 countries, respectively. Positive trends were also identified in food-producing animals at the EU level, with decreasing resistance to tetracyclines in broilers and to ampicillin and tetracyclines in turkeys.
For Campylobacter, resistance to erythromycin, a first-line treatment for Campylobacter infections in humans, has declined in several countries over the past decade, both in humans and in some food-producing animals.
In addition, multi-drug resistance to critically important antimicrobials remains generally low in Salmonella, Campylobacter, and E. coli.
Finally, earlier improvements have slowed down in some areas, particularly in E. coli, where resistance levels to some substances in poultry have stabilized rather than continued to decline. However, some countries were able to reduce AMR in food-producing animals, contributing to an overall improvement at the EU level.
