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FDA, partners to expand NARMS antibiotic resistance efforts
Filed Under:
Antimicrobial Stewardship
Chris Dall | News Reporter | CIDRAP News
| Aug 19, 2020
The US Food and Drug Administration and partners in other federal agencies yesterday outlined plans to expand their efforts to track antibiotic resistance in foodborne pathogens.
Under a new 5-year strategic plan, the FDA, in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS), aims to broaden the scope of the National Antimicrobial Surveillance Monitoring System (NARMS) to include more bacterial pathogens, more animal species, and resistant bacteria found in the environment.
The agencies say the strategic plan emphasizes a One Health model of monitoring that recognizes the interconnections between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment.
Expanded monitoring to include surface waters
NARMS was established in 1996 by the FDA, CDC, USDA, and state and local health departments to monitor resistance in enteric bacteria from humans, retail meats, and food-producing animals at the time of slaughter.
The annual NARMS report provides surveillance data on antibiotic resistance levels found in Nontyphoidal Salmonella, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, Enterococci and Shigella—the bacterial species most commonly transmitted to people through food. NARMS data are also used for investing foodborne illness outbreaks.
Monitoring antibiotic resistance in Salmonella and Campylobacter is critical from a public health perspective, because each year these two pathogens alone cause more than 2.5 million illnesses in the United States and hundreds of deaths. While foodborne Salmonella and Campylobacter infections don't always require antibiotics, resistance to commonly used antibiotics can cause more severe infections and hamper treatment.
Other NARMS functions include conducting epidemiologic and microbiologic investigations to examine sources and risk factors for resistant bacteria, genetic mechanisms of resistance, and clinical outcomes of foodborne infections caused by pathogens with specific resistance patterns.
Under the strategic plan, NARMS will maintain and enhance this routine resistance monitoring by adding more microorganisms from food-producing and companion animals, more types of antibiotic resistance, and environmental testing data. The effort will include collaborations with the Environmental Protection Agency to monitor surface waters for antibiotic-resistant pathogens, the creation of a testing program for resistant bacteria in animal feed and pet food, and the addition of routine surveillance testing of seafood products and imported foods.
Other goals include using bioinformatics tools to better understand the mechanisms, sources, and spread of antibiotic resistance and developing metagenomic approaches to link resistance genes to their microbial source; increased sharing of NARMS data with other US and global agencies to encourage a more timely public health approach to outbreaks; and more research into the source of antibiotic-resistant foodborne pathogens, the impact of infections caused by those pathogens, and strategies to reduce the spread of resistant organisms.
"Limiting antimicrobial resistance is a priority for public health," the agencies said. "The adoption of a One Health approach is fostering new interagency collaborations to address the resistance challenge across the human, animal and environmental domains."
The FDA is accepting comments on the plan starting today, and it will hold a virtual public meeting to discuss the plan on Oct 13 and 14.
FDA, partners to expand NARMS antibiotic resistance efforts
Filed Under:
Antimicrobial Stewardship
Chris Dall | News Reporter | CIDRAP News
| Aug 19, 2020
The US Food and Drug Administration and partners in other federal agencies yesterday outlined plans to expand their efforts to track antibiotic resistance in foodborne pathogens.
Under a new 5-year strategic plan, the FDA, in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS), aims to broaden the scope of the National Antimicrobial Surveillance Monitoring System (NARMS) to include more bacterial pathogens, more animal species, and resistant bacteria found in the environment.
The agencies say the strategic plan emphasizes a One Health model of monitoring that recognizes the interconnections between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment.
Expanded monitoring to include surface waters
NARMS was established in 1996 by the FDA, CDC, USDA, and state and local health departments to monitor resistance in enteric bacteria from humans, retail meats, and food-producing animals at the time of slaughter.
The annual NARMS report provides surveillance data on antibiotic resistance levels found in Nontyphoidal Salmonella, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, Enterococci and Shigella—the bacterial species most commonly transmitted to people through food. NARMS data are also used for investing foodborne illness outbreaks.
Monitoring antibiotic resistance in Salmonella and Campylobacter is critical from a public health perspective, because each year these two pathogens alone cause more than 2.5 million illnesses in the United States and hundreds of deaths. While foodborne Salmonella and Campylobacter infections don't always require antibiotics, resistance to commonly used antibiotics can cause more severe infections and hamper treatment.
Other NARMS functions include conducting epidemiologic and microbiologic investigations to examine sources and risk factors for resistant bacteria, genetic mechanisms of resistance, and clinical outcomes of foodborne infections caused by pathogens with specific resistance patterns.
Under the strategic plan, NARMS will maintain and enhance this routine resistance monitoring by adding more microorganisms from food-producing and companion animals, more types of antibiotic resistance, and environmental testing data. The effort will include collaborations with the Environmental Protection Agency to monitor surface waters for antibiotic-resistant pathogens, the creation of a testing program for resistant bacteria in animal feed and pet food, and the addition of routine surveillance testing of seafood products and imported foods.
Other goals include using bioinformatics tools to better understand the mechanisms, sources, and spread of antibiotic resistance and developing metagenomic approaches to link resistance genes to their microbial source; increased sharing of NARMS data with other US and global agencies to encourage a more timely public health approach to outbreaks; and more research into the source of antibiotic-resistant foodborne pathogens, the impact of infections caused by those pathogens, and strategies to reduce the spread of resistant organisms.
"Limiting antimicrobial resistance is a priority for public health," the agencies said. "The adoption of a One Health approach is fostering new interagency collaborations to address the resistance challenge across the human, animal and environmental domains."
The FDA is accepting comments on the plan starting today, and it will hold a virtual public meeting to discuss the plan on Oct 13 and 14.