FDA Releases 2014 NARMS Integrated Report; Finds Measurable Improvements in Antimicrobial Resistance Levels

November 23, 2016 — 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has released its 2014 National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) Integrated Report, highlighting antimicrobial resistance patterns in bacteria isolated from humans, retail meats, and animals at slaughter. Specifically, the report focuses on major foodborne bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics that are considered important to human medicine, and on multidrug resistant organisms (described as resistant to three or more classes of antibiotics). [Source: FDA, November 18, 2016]

NARMS was established in 1996 as a partnership between the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to track antibiotic resistance in foodborne bacteria. NARMS is critically important for monitoring trends in antimicrobial resistance among foodborne bacteria collected from humans, retail meats and food-producing animals. In particular, it assists the FDA in making data-driven decisions on the approval of safe and effective antimicrobial drugs for animals. NARMS will also be critical in evaluating the effectiveness of FDA’s Guidance for Industry #213 and the agricultural objectives in the Administration’s National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.

NARMS monitors foodborne bacteria to determine whether they are resistant to various antibiotics used in human and veterinary medicine. Specifically NARMS screens:

• non-typhoidal Salmonella
• Campylobacter
• Escherichia coli
• Enterococcus

Salmonella and Campylobacter are the leading bacterial causes of foodborne illness. While E. coli and Enterococcus may cause foodborne illness, they are included in NARMS mainly to help track the occurrence and spread of resistance.