About VetLCLIN AMR
The VetLCLIN AMR project brings together advanced veterinary microbiology laboratory expertise and large‑scale data surveillance to better understand antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria from companion animals.
The ideal combination of state-of-the-art Veterinary Microbiology Diagnostic Laboratory (VMDL) facilities and data surveillance (SAVSNET) has allowed the University of Liverpool to collaborate with the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) via a National Biosurveillance Network (NBN) project surveying AMR in bacteria from companion animal clinical samples.
There is no worldwide or national consensus for the use of common methodologies in veterinary laboratories for performing and interpreting bacterial cultures from companion animal clinical specimens or for antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST), hampering the usefulness of these data for surveillance purposes.
Through collaboration with private veterinary microbiology laboratories across the UK, this project will work towards methodology harmonisation for bacterial culture, AST, and AMR screening. It will also generate harmonised and standardised AMR surveillance approaches and facilitate aligning AMR surveillance in the UK with methodologies proposed by the newly formed European AMR Surveillance Network in veterinary medicine (EARS-Vet).
The genomic and epidemiologic analysis built into this project will contribute to a better understanding of the molecular epidemiology of inter-species AMR transmission between humans and companion animals occurring through a shared environment. Corresponding projects under NBN are looking to collate data on AMR in bacteria from farmed animal clinical samples.
Publications
The following publications showcase some of the science that will be applied:
- Working with labs on AMR surveillance and genomics. Frontiers in Microbiology.
- Resistance spread between dogs and humans. Antibiotics.
Newsletters
Read our latest VetCLIN AMR Newsletters:
- VetCLIN AMR Newsletter - December 2024 (pdf, 1.2MB)
- VetCLIN AMR Newsletter - September 2024 (pdf, 970KB)
- VetCLIN AMR Newsletter - August 2024 (pdf, 1.3MB).
VetCLIN AMR works with veterinary microbiology laboratories to integrate antimicrobial susceptibility data, supporting antibiotic management and contributing to national and international AMR surveillance.