Researchers to Develop Standard Method for Sharing AMR Data

July 7, 2023 — 

Providing veterinarians, producers more tools to identify, treat bacterial infections in livestock, data will help improve antimicrobial use decision making.

Health industry experts agree, an integrated, unified cross-species approach, known as One Health, is necessary for optimizing the health of people, animals and ecosystems and for combating antimicrobial resistance. Yet, AMR measurement metrics can differ greatly between animal and human health, leading to misconceptions and miscommunication. This lack of a common AMR measurement standard limits veterinarians' abilities to make informed antibiotic prescription decisions, especially within the livestock industry.

To strengthen antimicrobial stewardship within livestock veterinary medicine, the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research is awarding a $216,724 Seeding Solutions grant to Iowa State University of Science and Technology to develop a standard method of collecting, reporting and sharing multispecies antimicrobial susceptibility testing results for use in human and animal health industries. Merck MSD is providing matching funds for a total $433,449 investment.

Antimicrobial medicines are commonly used to prevent and treat infections in humans and animals. AMR occurs when bacteria and other pathogens change over time. As the pathogens change, they no longer respond to these medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.

Read the full story at National Hog Farmer.

[Source: National Hog Farmer 29 June 2023]