At a glance
Learn how antimicrobial-resistant bacteria can spread to people from food and animals. Find out prevention steps.
Why it's important
The American food supply is among the safest in the world, but people can still get food poisoning by eating contaminated foods. Some of the bacteria that cause food poisoning are antimicrobial-resistant—meaning certain medicines do not kill the bacteria. A person with a foodborne infection caused by antimicrobial-resistant bacteria will have similar symptoms to infections caused by the same type of bacteria that can be killed by antibiotics. Food poisoning symptoms can be mild to life-threatening. Most people with food poisoning do not need antibiotics to get better and clear the infection.
How antimicrobial-resistant bacteria can spread to people
Antibiotic drugs save lives, but their use can contribute to the development of antimicrobial-resistant germs. Antimicrobial resistance spreads between people, animals, and the environment (for example, in water and soil). Stopping the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance is a key action to protect people, along with preventing infections and improving antibiotic use.
Animals, like people, carry germs in their guts. This includes antimicrobial-resistant germs, which can get in food in several ways:
- When animals are slaughtered and processed for food, antimicrobial-resistant germs can contaminate meat or other animal products, for example, by spreading from contaminated processing equipment or storage bins.
- Animal feces/excrement (poop) can contain resistant germs and get into the surrounding environment.
- Fruits and vegetables can get contaminated through contact with soil, water, or fertilizer that contains animal feces/excrement.
People can get intestinal infections, including antimicrobial-resistant infections, by handling or eating contaminated food, or coming in contact with untreated or uncomposted animal poop. People can come in contact with animal poop either through direct contact with animals and animal environments or through contaminated drinking or swimming water. Infections can also spread between people.
In recent years, CDC has investigated many multistate outbreaks caused by antimicrobial-resistant germs. These outbreaks have been linked to contaminated food and contact with food animals, pets, and pet food, and treats.
What CDC is doing
CDC leads the U.S. public health response to combat antimicrobial resistance. CDC's Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) Solutions Initiative invests in national infrastructure to detect, respond to, contain, and prevent resistant infections, including in the food supply. Efforts include:
- Tracking antimicrobial-resistant infections and studying how resistance emerges and spreads.
- Detecting and investigating outbreaks of antimicrobial-resistant infections quickly to identify their sources and stop their spread.
- Determining the sources of antimicrobial-resistant infections that are commonly spread through food and animals.
- Strengthening the ability of state and local health departments to detect, respond to, and report antimicrobial-resistant infections.
- Educating the public and food workers on prevention methods, including safe food handling, safe contact with animals, and proper handwashing.
- Ensuring veterinarians, livestock and poultry producers, and other animal industries such as aquaculture have tools, information, and training around the appropriate use of antibiotic and antifungal drugs.
- Supporting the important work that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture are doing to improve antibiotic and antifungal drug use in veterinary medicine and agriculture.