Estimation of the Prevalence of Antimicrobial Resistance in Badgers (Meles meles) and Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in Northern Ireland.

Antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria can be shared between humans and animals, through food, water, and the environment. Wild animals are not only potential reservoirs of AMR, but are also sentinels mirroring the presence of AMR zoonotic bacteria in the environment. In Northern Ireland, little is known about levels of AMR in bacteria in wildlife, thus the current study aimed to estimate the prevalence of AMR bacteria in wildlife using wildlife species from two ongoing surveys as a proxy. Nasopharyngeal swabs and faecal samples from European badgers (Meles meles) (146 faecal samples; 118 nasal samples) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) (321 faecal samples; 279 nasal samples) were collected throughout Northern Ireland and were used to survey for the presence of extended spectrum beta lactamase resistant and AmpC-type beta lactamases Escherichia coli (ESBL/AmpC), Salmonella spp. (only in badgers) and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). ESBLs were detected in 13 out of 146 badger faecal samples (8.90%) and 37 out of 321 of fox faecal samples (11.53%), all of them presenting multi-drug resistance (MDR). Fourteen out of 146 (9.59%) badger faecal samples carried Salmonella spp. [S. Agama (n = 9), S. Newport (n = 4) and S. enterica subsp. arizonae (n = 1)]. Overall, AMR was found only in the S. enterica subsp. arizonae isolate (1/14, 7.14%). No MRSA were detected in nasopharyngeal swabs from badgers (n = 118) and foxes (n = 279). This is the first attempt to explore the prevalence of AMR in the two common wildlife species in Northern Ireland. These findings are important as they can be used as a base line for further research exploring the origin of the found resistance. These results should encourage similar surveys where environmental samples are included to bring better understanding of AMR dynamics, and the impact on wildlife, domestic livestock and humans.

My working week: Robert Huey.

Robert Huey is the Chief Veterinary Officer for Northern Ireland. Here, he describes a week in October.

Toward harmonization of the European food hygiene/veterinary public health curriculum.

Prompted by developments in the agri-food industry and associated recent changes in European legislation, the responsibilities of veterinarians professionally active in veterinary public health (VPH), and particularly in food hygiene (FH), have increasingly shifted from the traditional end-product control toward longitudinally integrated safety assurance. This necessitates the restructuring of university training programs to provide starting competence in this area for veterinary graduates or a sub-population of them. To date, there are substantial differences in Europe in the way in which graduate programs in FH/VPH are structured and in the time allocated to this important curricular group of subjects. Having recognized this, the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE) recently instituted a working group to analyze the current situation, with a view to produce standard operating procedures allowing fair and transparent evaluations of universities/faculties constituting its membership and in concurrence with explicit European legislation on the professional qualifications deemed necessary for this veterinary discipline. This article summarizes the main conclusions and recommendations of the working group and seeks to contribute to the international efforts to optimize veterinary training in FH/VPH.