Anses Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire Alimentation Environnement Travail

Whether ANSES is involved in surveillance of antibiotic use in veterinary medicine, breeding surveys, surveillance of bacterial resistance of non-human origin or risk assessment, antimicrobial resistance is a cross-cutting issue. It concerns four Agency laboratories, the Risks Evaluation Department and the French agency for veterinary medicinal products.

Since 1998, the Agency has been running a surveillance programme on the use of antibiotics in animals. In 1999, a national plan to monitor sales of veterinary medicinal products containing antibiotic agents was created by the French agency for veterinary medicinal products, in collaboration with the French union for the veterinary medicinal product and reagent industry. The Ploufragan-Plouzané and Lyon laboratories also undertake surveys from time to time, sometimes on a regular basis, in order to collect descriptive data on the prescription and use of antibiotics for breeding. An observatory of antibiotics consumption in poultry was created and monitors this use every month.

ANSES is also responsible for the surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria of non-human origin. By providing data on trends and emerging resistance in bacteria of animal origin, surveillance provides vital information for prescribing veterinarians and managers. Over the past ten years, the Agency has significantly scaled up its surveillance plan and has actively participated in setting-up the European surveillance system. This work stems from the activities of three networks that are coordinated by four of the Agency's laboratories.
- RESAPATH (National network for the surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in pathogenic bacteria of animal origin is coordinated by the Lyon and Ploufragan laboratories. It collects data on the antimicrobial resistance of bacteria isolated from diseased animals during veterinary diagnosis
- The Salmonella network collects strains of Salmonellae of non-human origin (isolated from food, the environment or animal production), which are sent for serotyping, to subject them to an antibiogram. It is coordinated by the Maisons-Alfort Laboratory for Food Safety.
- The annual surveillance plans implemented by the Directorate General for Food, in collaboration with the Agency's laboratories, include the collection, at the slaughterhouse, of the faeces or caeca of healthy animals, from which strains of indicator bacteria (E. coli, Enterococcus faecium) or zoonotic bacteria (Campylobacter sp, and some Salmonellae isolates) are isolated in cattle, pig and poultry sectors.

Based on all of this work, the Agency publishes a 'Farm' report every two years (French Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring in bacteria of animal origin), which summarises information from the surveillance programme on antibiotics use in animals and surveillance studies on the antimicrobial resistance of bacteria isolated from animals (through networks coordinated by the Agency and annual surveillance plans implemented by the Directorate General for Food in collaboration with the Agency).
The Agency also conducts expert assessments and in this context, has published several reports and opinions on antimicrobial resistance, including the report 'Veterinary use of antibiotics, bacterial resistance and consequences for human health' (January 2006). The Agency's experts contribute to the European risk assessments undertaken by the European Medicines Agency and the European Food Safety Authority. The Agency is an active member of international organisations that study these issues.
The Agency has contributed, on the international and European levels, to the development of methodologies to set priorities for risk assessment and management. It is a member of the Codex Alimentarius Task Force on the drawing-up of a guideline for risk assessment of resistance to antimicrobial agents found in food. During the French presidency of the European Union, the Agency also instigated various actions to prevent and control antimicrobial resistance:
- A strategic plan was adopted by the Heads of Medicines Agencies (this will soon be available at www.hma.eu).
- An ad hoc European working group chaired by the ANMV was created. Its goal is to standardise Summaries of Product Characteristics (SPCs) of veterinary medicinal products including existing antibiotic agents in Europe's various countries.
- The European surveillance of antibiotics consumption has been standardised, and studies have been conducted on prescription and dispensing conditions.

Via the ANMV, The Agency also contributed to the joint report on antimicrobial resistance for zoonotic infections written by the ECDC (1), EFSA (2), the EMEA (3) and the SCENIHR (Chair of the interagency group) (4).

In addition, ANSES takes part in the Ministry of Health's follow-ups of the Plan to preserve antimicrobial effectiveness. Together with the Ministries in charge of Agriculture and Health, the Agency helped create a national veterinary committee for the responsible use of antibiotics, which was launched on 18 November 2009, European Antibiotic Awareness Day.

(1) European centre for disease prevention and control
(2) European Food Safety Authority
(3) European Medicines Agency
(4) Scientific Committee on Emergent and Newly Identified Health Risks in the European Commission's Directorate General for Health and Consumers

September 2010