Technical Specifications for a EU-wide Baseline Survey of Antimicrobial Resistance in Bacteria from Aquaculture Animals

The European Commission requested scientific and technical assistance in the preparation of a EU-wide baseline survey of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria from aquaculture animals. It is recommended that the survey would aim at estimating the occurrence of AMR in spp. isolated from Atlantic Salmon (), European seabass () and trout () intended to consumption, at harvesting (at farm/slaughter), at the EU level and in addition, at estimating the occurrence and diversity of AMR of , , , and in blue mussel () and Mediterranean mussel () from production areas and at dispatch centres at the EU level. These technical specifications define the target populations, the sample size for the survey, sample collection requirements, the analytical methods (for isolation, identification, phenotypic susceptibility testing and further genotypic analysis of some of the bacteria targeted) and the data reporting requirements. The data to be reported by the EU Member States to support this baseline survey are presented in three data models. The results of the survey should be reported using the EFSA reporting system.