Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the level of risk to human health of antimicrobial-resistant superbugs originating from industrial farms.

Resistant bacteria and/or resistance genes can transfer between people and animals in both directions. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate conducts two surveillance schemes for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in animals, including regular monitoring of AMR in major food-producing species such as pigs and poultry. The results of these surveillance schemes are published annually in the ‘UK Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance and Sales and Surveillance Report’ which can be found at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1126450/FOR_PUBLICATION_-_UK-VARSS_2021_Main_Report__Final_v3_-accessible.pdf

Since 2014, the United Kingdom has reduced sales of veterinary antibiotics by 55%, and over this same period the UK has seen an overall trend of decreasing AMR in bacteria from animals. The UK has a cross-Government contingency plan to mitigate the risk to public health of resistant bacteria found in animals, a copy of which can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/resistant-bacteria-from-animals-of-possible-risk-contingency-plan/response-to-the-identification-from-an-animal-of-a-resistant-bacterial-isolate-of-risk-to-human-or-animal-health-contingency-plan