NARMS annual report now includes Salmonella data from CDC

The CDC announced it has released the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System annual report and it includes, for the first time, whole-genome sequencing data of bacteria from individuals with antibiotic-resistant Salmonella infections.

The National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System, or NARMS, is a national public health surveillance system that tracks changes in antimicrobial resistance of certain intestinal bacteria found in ill people, retail meats and food animals in the United States. NARMS helps to protect public health by providing information about antimicrobial resistance and measuring it in such bacteria. It is essential to understand and prevent the transmission of antimicrobial-resistant infections, according to Kate Fowlie, spokeswoman for the CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.

“This was the first time we systematically sequenced and analyzed an entire year of routine surveillance Salmonella isolates that showed resistance to our standard panel of antimicrobial agents, so the data are now available in the annual report,” Fowlie told Infectious Disease News. “These data identify the genes and mutations known to cause resistance and can be used to explain antibiotic resistance trends. By using [whole-genome sequencing] data, we can find genes on bacteria that transfer or spread resistance to clinically important drugs.”

The report is a collaboration among state and local public health departments, the CDC, FDA and the Agriculture Department, and it includes data from 2014, which reflects the most recent national figures on antibiotic resistance among six types of bacteria that can cause diarrhea or bloodstream infections, according to the CDC.

Fowlie said these newly added data better inform the development of public health interventions and policies designed to protect people from the threat of resistant enteric infections. She said the CDC has used this type of sequencing data before 2014 for outbreak investigations and special studies, but not for routine surveillance.

“It is important for physicians to be aware of the overall threat of antimicrobial resistance,” Fowlie said. “NARMS surveillance is a public health tool that can help keep physicians aware of the current trends in resistance.” – by Melinda Stevens

Reference:
CDC. NARMS 2014 Human Isolates Surveillance Report. http://www.cdc.gov/narms/pdf/2014-annual-report-narms-508c.pdf. Accessed September 8, 2016.

Disclosure: Fowlie is employed by the CDC.