Question

What agencies are responsible for monitoring antibiotic resistance found in retail poultry? What bacteria are tested for resistance?

Answer 1

To safe consumption and preventing the spread of foodborne infections from resistant bacteria is monitored by some of the agencies. Agencies like National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) monitor for antibiotic resistance in retail poultry. It is a US public health surveillance system that tracks antimicrobial resistance in foodborne and other enteric bacteria. In this agencies Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) are involved. They generally check for the bacterias like Salmonella, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus etc. NARMS test bacteria for sporadic cases and outbreaks of diseases for resistance to 22 antibiotic agents that are in 13 classes of drugs. Escherichia coli and Enterococcus are not disease causing in humans but antibiotic resistance in these bacteria can be transferred to other bacteria that can make people sick.