The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced eight awards totaling nearly $5 million to maintain, expand, and utilize previously developed antimicrobial resistance (AMR) dashboard tools. These awards will help advance scientific knowledge around AMR through partnerships with Cornell University, Iowa State University, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, Texas Tech University, University of Minnesota, and University of Washington.
AMR is a global health threat that makes antibiotics and other antimicrobials less effective. Addressing AMR is important to APHIS, along with the agricultural and public health sectors, because antimicrobials are some of our most critical tools for treating serious animal infections and saving the lives of people and animals.
All AMR dashboards developed with this funding are required to include data protections similar to the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act. Once created, APHIS will use the dashboards to monitor trends in AMR patterns, detect emerging resistance profiles, and better understand relationships between antimicrobial use, animal health management practices and AMR.
These public-private partnerships will improve access to information on AMR in domesticated animals, including livestock, poultry, and companion animals. They will focus on:
- Securely tracking the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistant microbes in domesticated animals.
- Building an understanding of dynamics and frequencies of resistance emergence in microbial populations.
- Developing a communication, coordination, and collaboration strategy for AMR dashboard tools.
These dashboard development efforts complement APHIS’ ongoing work on AMR. APHIS’ National Animal Health Monitoring System collects and evaluates information voluntarily provided by U.S. farmers and ranchers to better understand antimicrobial use in the context of overall animal health. Our partner labs in the National Animal Health Laboratory Network look for AMR, supporting APHIS’ work to monitor for trends and identify new or emerging resistance profiles, assess the continued usefulness of antibiotics over time, and provide actionable guidance to veterinarians, producers and other stakeholders.
Congress directed and provided funding to APHIS to carry out this project as part of USDA’s fiscal year 2024 and 2025 appropriations. With its extensive animal health expertise and strong federal, state, tribal and industry partnerships, APHIS plays a critical leadership role in identifying AMR in diseases found in animals, such as livestock and poultry, while protecting the nation’s food supply.
Source: USDA
