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<p>Antimicrobial usage (AMU) is a key driver influencing the occurrence and emergence
of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The degree of intensification of farm production
systems can have a bearing on AMU, but that is not necessarily the case. Intensive
production systems can involve high health status livestock with high biosecurity
to prevent entry of disease and consequently can have low AMU. We are researching
the pathways for AMR transmission in the environment to inform future monitoring.
A cross-departmental project called Pathogen Surveillance in Agriculture, Food and
the Environment (PATH-SAFE) was established in 2021. It brings together the Food Standards
Agency, Food Standards Scotland, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,
the Environment Agency, the Department of Health and Social Care, and the UK Health
Security Agency (formerly Public Health England) to understand how pathogens and 'Superbugs'
- or Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) - is spread. PATH-SAFE contains a workstream focused
on AMR prevalence in three river catchments and this work will strengthen our understanding
of AMR in the environment, including the relative importance of different sources,
transmission routes and, the implications for people, animals, food and ecosystems.
This will enable us to increase public awareness and inform effective control measures
to protect human and animal health and the ecosystem, through a better understanding
of the transmission pathway by which resistance develops and spreads.</p>
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