BfR: about antibiotic resistances in the food chain

Berlin / DE. (bfr) The National Reference Laboratories for Salmonella and Antibiotic Resistance at the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) tested Salmonella isolates from diagnostic submissions for antibiotics resistance and assessed them according to epidemiological criteria between 2000 and 2008. The isolates originated mainly from animals and foods but also from feeds and the environment. Of the 33’625 isolates, 48 percent were resistant to at least one and 35 percent even resistant to more than one class of antibiotics. For the isolates from livestock and foods the resistance is significantly higher. A second, representative study carried out in 2009 confirms the results for Salmonella and reaches similar results also for Escherichia coli and Campylobacter. «Resistances to pathogens in animals and foods are a serious problem in consumer health protection», said BfR President Professor Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel. Infections with resistant pathogens can prolong or aggravate the course of diseases in humans. They can require hospital treatment and may even become life threatening in certain cases.
Info: Antibiotic resistances in the food chain (complete press release).