Sewage surveillance of antibiotic resistance holds both opportunities and challenges

A proposed European Union-directive requests that member states monitor antibiotic resistance at all sewage treatment plants serving > 100,000 people. Sewage surveillance could provide information on the resistance situation in the underlying population and on environmental transmission risks. There are opportunities to make such surveillance data more informative and actionable, but there are also challenges.

Automated summary

A proposed EU directive calls for monitoring antibiotic resistance at sewage treatment plants serving more than 100,000 people to gather information on resistance in the population and environmental transmission risks. There are opportunities to enhance the informativeness and usability of the surveillance data, but challenges also exist.