US: FDA releases strategic plan for antimicrobial resistance

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in cooperation with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS), its partners in the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS), is releasing its strategic plan for the next five years.

The NARMS program examines bacteria isolated from humans, raw retail meats, and animals at slaughter to analyze and report on patterns of resistance to the most important antimicrobial agents.

The NARMS Strategic Plan 2021-2025 lists the program’s strategic goals and objectives, as well as its challenges and opportunities. A central theme of the new NARMS Strategic Plan is One Health, which is a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach to health, recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment.

NARMS has established four strategic goals:

• Enhance sampling for foodborne pathogens within a one health framework
• Employ advanced technologies to better understand the evolution and spread of resistance among foodborne pathogens
• Improve data sharing, communication, and collaboration
• Conduct research to assess the sources and impact of resistance and the effectiveness of prevention practices for foodborne pathogens

In accord with the principles of One Health, NARMS is expanding its testing to include environmental water samples through a collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and animal pathogens through collaborations with FDA’s Veterinary Laboratory Investigation and Response Network (Vet-LIRN) and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).