Effective strategy for antibiotic resistance

The measures initiated are gradually having an effect in all areas in Switzerland, according to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) regarding the Swiss Antibiotic Resistance Report 2022. In human medicine, antibiotic use declined 19 percent between 2019 and 2021, with Covid rules playing an important role.

Big difference in meat origin

However, the risk of antibiotic resistance has not yet been eliminated. Resistance occurs when bacteria no longer react or react less strongly to antibiotics. Tests on fresh meat showed clear differences between Swiss meat and imported meat.

In poultry meat, there has been a sharp downward trend in samples contaminated with E. coli resistant to several classes of antibiotics in recent years. Detection rates dropped massively between 2014 (65.5 percent) and 2020 (10.2 percent). In contrast, the detection rate for imported poultry meat was 61.8 percent. The report emphasizes that infection with bacterial food pathogens can be avoided by following simple hygiene rules in the kitchen. For pork and beef, the corresponding detection rates have been at a very low level for years, below 1 percent.