Resistance to commonly used antibiotics remains widespread in food poisoning bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter in Europe, although several countries have reported declines in resistance for some drugs over time.
A high proportion of Campylobacter and Salmonella found in both people and food-producing animals are resistant to ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic used to treat severe infections in humans, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in a statement on Wednesday.
Resistance to ciprofloxacin in Salmonella from food-producing animals has stayed consistently high, while resistance in human Salmonella infections has increased in recent years, it added.
Ciprofloxacin is no longer recommended to treat Campylobacter infections in humans in Europe because resistance is so widespread, and restrictions have been placed on its use in animals, the organisation said.
High levels of resistance were also reported to other commonly used antibiotics — including ampicillin, tetracyclines and sulfonamides — in Salmonella and Campylobacter from humans and targeted food-producing animals across Europe.
Falling resistance in some countries, but new detections flagged
Several countries have detected carbapenemase-producing E. coli in food-producing animals and meat, with reports increasing, according to the organisation. Carbapenems are “last-resort” antibiotics for humans and are not authorised for use in food-producing animals, ECDC said.
Over the past decade, resistance in Salmonella from humans to ampicillin and tetracyclines fell significantly in 19 and 14 countries respectively.
At EU level, resistance decreased in food-producing animals for tetracyclines in broiler chickens, and for ampicillin and tetracyclines in turkeys.
Resistance to erythromycin — the first-line antibiotic used to treat Campylobacter infections in people — declined in several countries over the past decade in both humans and some food-producing animals.
Combined resistance to more than one critically important antibiotic at the same time remained generally low in Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli.
Improvements have slowed in some areas, particularly for E. coli in poultry, where resistance to some substances has stabilised rather than continued to fall.
“Protecting the effectiveness of antimicrobials requires coordinated action through a strong One Health approach — because antimicrobial resistance affects us all,” said Piotr Kramarz, Chief Scientist at the ECDC.
