NARMS Cooperative Agreement Program to Strengthen Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance in Retail Food Specimens (U01) Clinical Trials Not Allowed

Project Summary/AbstractThe Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) is a long-term participant and leader in theNational Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System Retail Food Surveillance (RFS)program. TDH feels that the expansion of the retail food arm of NARMS is critical step inconducting surveillance for antimicrobial resistance (AR) in the food chain and formonitoring the impact of recent national initiatives including important regulatorychanges in the use of antimicrobials in food animals. Use of antimicrobials in foodanimal production creates selective pressure that enables antimicrobial resistantbacteria to matriculate into the food supply and ultimately cause human infections. Ofconcern, antibiotic resistant infections are accompanied by more severe illnesses, moredeaths, higher healthcare costs, and increased harm to society. We feel thatsurveillance is critical ?data-for-action? to not only understand the sources of AR andmulti-drug resistance (MDR) in the food supply chain but to combat this public healthproblem. Tennessee embraces the goal of the NARMS food surveillance program toimprove the detection of and surveillance for AR among enteric bacteria in raw retailfood commodities through this cooperative funding agreement (FOA # PAR-20-124,CFDA # 93.876). Tennessee will participate fully in all project components includingpurchase of approved meats and seafood, testing by NARMS protocols, shipment ofisolates and meta data, and continued activity in the NARMS working groups.Additionally, Tennessee anticipates participating in any future pilot activity or expansionto other commodities. Tennessee capacity for testing food has translated to increasedability to assess isolates and their link to human clusters, as well as more proficiency intesting food during outbreaks and quickly characterizing the AR properties to inform thepublic heath investigation. Tennessee will participate fully in all NARMS RFS activitiesand follow the accepted protocols during the 5 year period. Our strategy include: 1.Maintain sampling and reporting with a continuous quality improvement paradigm inRFS. 2. Foster partnership among Tennessee, federal, state, local, and externalpartners. 3. Enhance outbreak investigation response and reporting. 4. Sustain andenhance NARMS laboratory diagnostic capacity. 6.Improve laboratory coordination,outreach, and information flow. 7. Maintain and exchange integrated surveillanceinformation system. Tennessee?s expectations and outcomes, strategies and activities,and collaborative activities will continue throughout the 5 year period with continuedfunding. We hope our response to this FOA will be favorably considered.