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Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, fungi and other germs become too strong to be treated by antibiotics and continue to grow.
On this page, find links to reports, publications, journal article citations and more that focus on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and alternatives to antibiotics (ATA) activities including surveillance, research and development, education, extension and outreach. These activities help determine patterns of antibiotic use in food-producing animals; monitor antibiotic drug susceptibilities in food, animals, meat, poultry; and develop mitigations to reduce AMR-associated risks.
Featured Resources
Research Projects: Antimicrobial Resistance
The Food Safety Research Projects Database (RPD) contains information about research projects related to the study of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
Research Publications (Food Safety): Antibiotic Residues
The Food Safety Research Publications resource contains links to recent peer-reviewed scientific articles.
AMR and ATA Research at the USDA Agricultural Research Service
USDA ARS scientists conduct research to promote the resilience of agriculture to AMR.
Meet the Experts
Cold Plasma as a Novel Antimicrobial Intervention (Introductory Video)
Investigator: Brendan Niemira, PhD
Date: 2018
How Does Salmonella become Antibiotic Resistant? (Introductory video)
Investigator: Jonathan Frye, PhD
Date: 2019
Antimicrobial Resistance Presentations
ARS - FSIS 2019 Food Safety Meeting, Morgantown, WV
- Antimicrobial Use and Resistance in Beef and Pork Production [PDF, 64 pages]. John Schmidt, Tommy Wheeler, and Terry Arthur
- Antimicrobial packaging to improving the safety, shelf life and waste reduction of various types of food [PDF, 31 pages]. Tony Jin
ARS - FSIS 2018 Food Safety Meeting
- Analysis of antibiotic associated changes in turkey intestinal microbiota, and studies of Campylobacter growth [PDF, 30 pages]. Torey Looft
- Testing AMR Finder with NARMS Isolates [PDF, 30 pages]. Michael Feldgarden
- Phenotype ‐ genotype correlation of Salmonella enterica to identify markers associated with colonization/invasion in chickens, and antibiotic resistances in the poultry production environment [PDF, 30 pages]. Jean Guard
- Analysis of virulence and antibiotic resistance mechanisms of Salmonella and development of intervention strategies [PDF, 50 pages]. Shawn Bearson
- Update on Antimicrobial Resistance in Beef Production. John Schmidt
ARS - FSIS 2017 Meeting
- The Kitchen Sink: Detecting and Monitoring Antibiotic Resistance Genes: ATAs and Limiting Foodborne Pathogen Carriage [PDF, 32 pages]. Heather Allen.
- Antibiotic Alternatives for Controlling Foodborne Pathogens and Disease in Poultry [PDF, 55 pages]. Abdi Upadhyay, Ann Donoghue, and Narayan Rath