Develop and pilot approaches to surveillance for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in companion animals

Understanding the amount and changing patterns of AMR in commensal microorganisms in dog and cat populations is essential for understanding the risk of AMR to the health of dogs and cats and the risk of AMR transmission from pets to their owners. However, information about the current state, and changing trends in AMR in dog and cat populations in the UK is rudimentary at best. Ongoing AMR surveillance is essential for producing the up to date and accurate information that is needed to develop policy to effectively deal with these risks. Currently there is no comprehensive AMR surveillance of healthy dog and cat populations in the UK. The purpose of the project is to use applied research to provide sufficient information for the VMD to design and implement an operational surveillance system which produces representative estimates of AMR in commensal organisms (E. coli and possibly others) in the UK dog and cat populations. The operational surveillance system is expected to produce information about emerging AMR issues, changes in AMR trends, and have the ability to estimate changes in AMR trends following policy or interventions aimed at reducing AMR