On July 31, 2018, FDA announced that it was working on a five-year blueprint to combat antimicrobial resistance in animals.  On September 14, 2018, FDA published Supporting Antimicrobial Stewardship in Veterinary Settings: Goals for Fiscal Years 2019-2023.

FDA provides action items to promote three goals; we summarize several major steps for each;

Align Antimicrobial Drug Product Use with the Principles of Antimicrobial Stewardship

• Update list of medically important antimicrobial drugs administered in the feed or water of food producing animals;

• Issue draft strategies to ensure that all medically important antimicrobial drugs have appropriate durations of use when used in food or feed and all medically important antimicrobial drugs are under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian;

• Engage stakeholders on improvement of labeling to support antimicrobial stewardship;

• Obtain public input on antimicrobial use practices in companion animals, ensure that all dosage forms are used under the oversight of a licensed veterinarian, and develop and implement a strategy for promoting antimicrobial stewardship in companion animals; and

• Collaborate with stakeholders to identify ways to encourage development of antimicrobial alternatives.

Foster Antimicrobial Stewardship in Veterinary Settings

• In consultation with USDA, work with stakeholders to identify ways to develop, update, and disseminate information on antimicrobial stewardship and assist academic and federal partners to develop educational materials that address antimicrobial stewardship;

• Increase access to antimicrobial label information; and

• Develop position to promote international antimicrobial stewardship and provide technical assistance to developing countries.

Enhance Monitoring of Antimicrobial Resistance and Antimicrobial Drug Use in Animals

• Continue collecting data on on-farm antimicrobial use in U.S. animal agriculture in poultry, swine, and cattle first funded in 2016;

• Expand antimicrobial resistance screening for additional bacteria species and to characterize resistance in bacteria;

• Expand information technology systems to promote coordination;

• Expand surveillance to retail meat sampling; and

• Characterize and include genomic information in reports.