The European Union Summary Report on Antimicrobial Resistance in zoonotic and indicator bacteria from humans, animals and food in 2017/2018

The latest data from humans, animals and food show that a large proportion of Salmonella bacteria are multidrug-resistant (resistant to three or more antimicrobials). In humans, resistance to ciprofloxacin is common, particularly in certain types of Salmonella, and resistance to high concentrations of ciprofloxacin increased overall from 1.7% (2016) to 4.6% (2018). For Campylobacter, 16 out of 19 countries report very high or extremely high percentages of ciprofloxacin resistance.

High proportions of resistance to ciprofloxacin are also reported in Salmonella and E. coli bacteria from poultry. Ciprofloxacin is a fluoroquinolone, a class of antimicrobials categorised as critically important for use in humans. If fluoroquinolones lose their effectiveness, the impact on human health could be significant.

However, combined resistance – simultaneous resistance to two critically important antimicrobials – to fluoroquinolones and third generation cephalosporines in Salmonella and to fluoroquinolones and macrolides in Campylobacter remains low.

For 2018, the report lists sporadic cases of human Salmonella infection with resistance to carbapenems, a last-line antimicrobial.