EU Summary Report on antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic and indicator bacteria from humans, animals and food in 2013

The antimicrobial resistance data on zoonotic and indicator bacteria in 2013, submitted by 28 EU MSs, were jointly analysed by EFSA and ECDC. Resistance in zoonotic Salmonella and Campylobacter species from humans, animals and food, and resistance in indicator Escherichia coli and enterococci,as well as data on meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, in animals and food were addressed. ‘Microbiological’ resistance was assessed using epidemiological cut-off (ECOFF) values in animal and food isolates and, where possible, in human isolates. For human isolates interpreted based on clinical breakpoints, the ‘clinically’ resistant and ‘intermediate’ resistant categories were combined into a ‘non-susceptible’ group, resulting in close correspondence with the ECOFF-defined ‘microbiological’ resistance for most antimicrobials. In Salmonella from humans, high proportions of isolates were resistant to ampicillin, sulfonamides and tetracyclines, while proportions of isolates resistant to third-generation cephalosporins and clinically non-susceptible to fluoroquinolones generally remained low. In Salmonella and Escherichia coli isolates from fowl, pigs, cattle and meat thereof, resistance to ampicillin, tetracyclines and sulfonamides was commonly detected, while resistance to third-generation cephalosporins was generally uncommon. High to very high resistance to (fluoro)quinolones was observed in Salmonella from turkeys, fowl and broiler meat. In Campylobacter from humans, a high to very high proportion of isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin and tetracyclines, while resistance to erythromycin was low to moderate. The resistance to fluoroquinolones in some MSs was extremely high; in such settings, the effective treatment option for human enteric Campylobacter infection may be significantly reduced. High to extremely high resistance to ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid and tetracyclines was observed in Campylobacter isolates from fowl, broiler meat, pigs and cattle, whereas much lower levels were observed for erythromycin and gentamicin. Increasing trends in ciprofloxacin resistance were observed in Campylobacter from broilers and/or pigs in several MSs. Multi-resistance and co-resistance to critically important antimicrobials in both human and animal isolates were uncommon. A minority of isolates from animals belonging to a few Salmonella serovars (notably Kentucky and Infantis) had a high level of resistance to ciprofloxacin.