National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System for Enteric Bacteria (NARMS)

Supplier
CDC/NCEZID
Years Available
1996 to present
Periodicity
Annual
Mode of Collection
Surveillance data: passive data collection.
Description
The National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System for Enteric Bacteria (NARMS) was established in 1996 as a collaboration among the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and state and local health departments. NARMS tracks antimicrobial resistance in foodborne and other enteric bacteria, including Salmonella and Campylobacter, from humans, retail meats, and food-producing animals.
Population Covered
U.S. population
Methodology
Public health laboratories in 50 states and 4 local health departments submit Salmonella isolates from clinical specimens from humans to CDC NARMS for antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). The laboratories in 10 state health departments participating in the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) also submit Campylobacter isolates. Domestically-acquired Campylobacter infections (i.e., no international travel in the 7 days before illness onset) are identified using travel information available from FoodNet. CDC tests isolates for susceptibility to a panel of antimicrobial drugs representing drug classes that are important in human and veterinary medicine. AST results are interpreted using criteria from the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute when available. Nontyphoidal Salmonella excludes serotypes Typhi, Paratyphi A, Paratyphi B (i.e., tartrate negative isolates), and Paratyphi C. C. jejuni is the most common species causing Campylobacter infections in humans.
References
CDC. National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System for Enteric Bacteria (NARMS): Human Isolates Surveillance Report for 2015 (Final Report). Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, 2018.