Surveillance and monitoring of antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic consumption in humans and animals.

Surveillance and monitoring studies of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria of human and animal origin and antimicrobial consumption in humans and animals have been conducted in various countries throughout the world. In the veterinary field, in particular, programmes have been installed which target bacteria of zoonotic, foodborne and/or veterinary relevance. Each year, the European Surveillance of Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption project summarises and evaluates antimicrobial consumption in ambulatory and hospital care in many European countries. In contrast, antimicrobial consumption data in veterinary medicine are available from only a few countries and the type of information that is collected or reported varies. To address this challenge, the European Surveillance of Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption project was launched by the European Medicines Agency in September 2009 and has just published its first report. This comparison of the different studies for surveillance and monitoring of antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial consumption in humans and animals shows the need to improve harmonisation.