A joint assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) warns that resistance in pathogens such as Salmonella and Campylobacter “continues to be a public health concern across Europe”.
At issue is the persistence, and in some cases rise, of resistance to ciprofloxacin, a frontline treatment for severe human infections. A “high proportion” of Salmonella and Campylobacter sampled from humans and food-producing animals show resistance to the drug. In Campylobacter, resistance has become so widespread that ciprofloxacin is “no longer recommended” for treating human infections. Restrictions on its veterinary use are intended to preserve what remains of its clinical utility.
More broadly, resistance to commonly used antimicrobials including ampicillin, tetracyclines and sulfonamides, remains elevated. Particularly troubling is the growing detection…
