Last week, the first sampling campaign of the pilot study developed in Catalonia was carried out within the framework of EU-JAMRAI-2, the European Joint Action to combat antimicrobial resistance through a One Health approach that integrates human, animal, and environmental health.

The activity brought together researchers from ICRA-CERCA and IRTA-CReSA in a joint sampling campaign across different environmental settings. The teams, composed of Sara Rodríguez-Mozaz, Carles Borrego and Pamela Colman (ICRA-CERCA) and Lourdes Migura, Marc Bravo, Noemí Giler and Carla Tort Miró (IRTA-CReSA), collected samples from bathing waters in L’Escala and Barcelona, as well as from agricultural soils and Lake Banyoles.

The aim of the study is to validate a harmonized methodology for monitoring antimicrobial resistance across different environmental compartments. This pilot exercise will generate comparable data at the European level and contribute to the development of future recommendations and guidelines to strengthen environmental surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in Europe.

This initiative represents an important step towards a better understanding of the circulation of resistant microorganisms in the environment and reinforces collaboration between research institutions to address one of the major challenges facing global health.