Partners in Antibiotic Resistance and Food Safety
The National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) is a U. S. public health surveillance system that tracks antimicrobial resistance in foodborne and other enteric bacteria. NARMS works closely with a number of partners who play complementary roles in antibiotic resistance to address this important issue.
| Sources represented by NARMS: | Humans | Retail Meats | Food-Producing Animals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who is involved in NARMS? |
|
|
|
| Where do the samples that are tested come from? |
| Retail meats from consumer grocery stores including:
| Ceca and regulatory samples§ from farm animals including:
|
| What bacteria does NARMS test for resistance? |
|
|
|
¶California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington have health departments participating. As of September 2016 Kansas State University, Iowa State University, Texas Tech University, and South Dakota State University participate in the NARMS retail meat surveillance program.
†Each USDA NARMS agency tests bacteria samples taken from food-producing animals at different stages of production.
§Regulatory samples include ground products (chicken, turkey, beef), carcass swabs (turkey, cattle, swine), and carcass rinsates (chicken).
‡Most Escherichia coli and Enterococcus do not cause human illness, but antibiotic resistance in these bacteria can be transferred to other bacteria that can make people sick.