Antimicrobial Resistance in the Food Chain

How do antibiotic-resistant bacteria develop and find their way into our food?

Learn what antibiotics are, how they work, and how bacteria become resistant to their effects. Hear how antibiotics are used from the perspective of healthcare and veterinary professionals. Explore how antibiotics are used in farming: How can antibiotic-resistant bacteria find their way onto our food? What impact does the environment and global trade have on the spread of this bacteria? Finally, consider what might be done to tackle antibiotic resistance: How effective are current policies? Can we find new types of antibiotics or alternatives to antibiotics? What can we do internationally?

This course is for anyone with an interest in antibiotics, food and farming, and how antimicrobial resistance (AMR) will affect our lives in the future. We aim to give you up-to-date information on the key issues in this topic, along with the opinions of leading experts from the world of industry, academia, medicine/veterinary medicine and government.

For those keen to learn more about this area, we also offer a more in-depth online course on Poultry Health, in which we explore how disease can be controlled in the poultry industry; a sector that is particularly susceptible to the challenges of antimicrobial resistance.

• The mechanisms and transfer of antimicrobial resistance
• Introduction to the Course
• What are antibiotics?
• Uses of antibiotics
• How does resistance develop?
• Transmissible antimicrobial resistance
• Antibiotics in the food chain
• Introduction to Week 2
• AMR and the Food Chain
• AMR and the Environment
• AMR and International Trade
• Antibiotic usage and control: Past, present and future
• Introduction to Week 3
• Past: History of AMR in the Food Chain
• Present: What are we doing to address AMR?
• Future: Further Opportunities for Control
• Wrapping Up