​Bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter, some of the most common causes of food-borne infections, showed significant resistance to common antimicrobials, according to the newly published EFSA-ECDC European Union Summary Report on antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic and indicator bacteria from humans, animals and food in 2012.

​The EFSA-ECDC report, ‘European Union Summary Report on Trends and Sources of Zoonoses, Zoonotic Agents and Food-borne Outbreaks in 2013’, released today covers 16 zoonoses and foodborne outbreaks.

​Bacteria in humans, food and animals continue to show resistance to the most widely used antimicrobials, says the latest report on antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic bacteria in Europe. Resistance to ciprofloxacin, an antimicrobial that is critically important for the treatment of human infections, continues to be very high in Campylobacter, thus reducing the options for effective treatment of severe foodborne infections. In addition, multi-drug resistant Salmonella bacteria continue to spread across Europe.

​There has been a statistically significant increasing trend of listeriosis between 2008 and 2015, with the proportion of cases in the over 64 age group steadily increasing from 56.2% in 2008 to 64.1% in 2015.

​The findings in the latest report on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria from ECDC and EFSA underline the serious threat AMR poses to public and animal health. Infections caused by bacteria that are resistant to antimicrobials lead to about 25 000 deaths in the EU every year.

​​Human cases of listeriosis and camylobacteriosis rose once again in 2014, continuing an upward trend that began in 2008. Salmonellosis cases increased slightly for the first time since 2008.

​​Treatment options for some of the most common food-borne infections are decreasing, as types of bacteria (called ‘isolates’) continue to show resistance to antimicrobial drugs.

​​Human cases of campylobacteriosis decreased slightly in 2012 for the first time in five years, but campylobacteriosis remains the most commonly reported zoonotic disease and it is premature to suggest that this is the beginning of a downward trend.

​​The third joint EFSA and ECDC report on antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic bacteria affecting humans, animals and foods shows the continued presence of resistance to a range of antimicrobials in Salmonella and Campylobacter, the main bacteria causing food-borne infections in the European Union (EU).

​​The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have published their annual report on zoonoses and food-borne outbreaks in the European Union for 2010.