Antimicrobial Susceptibility in Washington State: A One Health Approach

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance is rapidly increasing globally and is not only a human health concern but rather a One Health issue. Veterinarians and physicians have seen a rise in antimicrobial resistance in companion animals, food-production animals, and humans over the last few decades, with a paucity of new antimicrobials being developed. This cross-sectional study evaluated antimicrobial susceptibility testing from three sources: human National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System for Enteric Bacteria (NARMS) data from the CDC, retail meat NARMS data from the FDA, and clinical animal data from Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. The study had two purposes 1) evaluate the proportion of samples susceptible over time within each data source population in Washington and 2) characterize antimicrobial susceptibility in critical zoonotic pathogen genera (Salmonella and Campylobacter) in human, retail meat, and clinical animal samples using culture and susceptibility data. The study found that antimicrobial susceptibility in human samples was significantly higher than in retail meat and clinical animal samples. However, human and retail meat sample populations showed a similar downward trend in susceptibility over time, whereas clinical animal sample susceptibility increased. Understanding what drove these changes in susceptibility is crucial to implementing effective policies, programs, and recommendations to reduce antimicrobial resistance. This research can serve as a baseline for monitoring antimicrobial susceptibility changes in Washington and guide future work to include general practice human and animal clinical samples along with environmental data to better represent antimicrobial susceptibility using a One Health approach.