ESBLs - A threat to human and animal health?

The use in human medicine of third generation cephalosporins (3GCs, e.g. cefotaxime, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone) is generally believed to have been a major selective force in the emergence of extended-spectrum beta (β)-lactamases (ESBLs). Whilst initially confined to enterobacteriaceae causing hospital acquired infection, the emergence and spread particularly in the community of Escherichia coli (E. coli) strains producing CTX-M ESBLs is a very serious challenge to effective therapy of infections caused by all Gram negative bacteria. The small but gradually increasing use of 3GCs and quinolones in food animal production (for details see VMD, 2010) may be linked to the recent emergence of ESBLs in bacteria associated with cattle, poultry and pigs. A joint working group of the Advisory Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection (ARHAI) and the Defra Antimicrobial Resistance Coordination (DARC) Group was set up to address these concerns and has produced this report