The European Food Safety Authority and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control have released findings from their joint European Union Summary Report. In it, the parties analyzed data from 2013 associated with the increasing resistance to antimicrobial drugs––due to the presence of bacteria or ‘isolates’––typically used to treat foodborne illnesses.

Key highlights from the report include:

• Antimicrobials used to treat Salmonella in both humans and animals (primarily chickens and turkeys and their derived meat products) were frequently ineffective. Drug resistance was especially high for turkeys at 73 percent.
• Antimicrobials used to treat Campylobacter in both humans and animals (primarily chickens, pigs and cattle) were frequently ineffective. Resistance to the drug ciprofloxacin was particularly high in humans, significantly reducing the number of treatment options for those with serious infections.
• When it comes to co-resistance to antimicrobials and multi-drug combinations, resistances was either extremely low (less than 0.5 percent in humans and chickens) or nonexistent (for pigs and turkeys).

The report also includes data on resistance to drugs for Escherichia coli, Indicatorenterococci and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.