ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE MONITORING IN SWISS PORK PRODUCTION

Abstract An optimized national resistance monitoring program should deliver a precise estimate of the resistance situation for a given combination of bacteria and antimicrobial at a low cost. In order to achieve this, decisions need to be made on the number of samples to be collected at each of different possible sampling points along the food production line. Sampling decisions do not only depend on the prevalence of resistance and sensitivity and specificity of resistance test-ing, but also on the prevalence of the bacteria, and test characteristics of isolation of these bacte-ria. Our aim was to develop a stochastic simulation model that optimized a national resistance monitoring program in pig production, taking multi-stage sampling, imperfect sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic tests, and cost-effectiveness considerations into account. Introduction The use of antimicrobial substances in animal production is one potential reason for the occurrence of resistant bacteria in humans. Thus monitoring the resistance status of various bacteria in the animal population is important for a timely intervention before resistant strains spread throughout the animal population. Currently, Switzerland is developing the scientific basis for the implementation of routine antimicrobial resistance monitoring in food producing animals