Supply of Sensititre systems for performing MICs, with automated inoculators and plate readers.

Antibiotic resistance is a global problem and seen across government as a major societal challenge. Research into antibiotic resistance in bacterial isolates from animals and foodstuffs is a key area of research for APHA. Additionally, APHA have been involved for some years in EU surveys of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria from broilers, pigs and turkeys, and from beef, chicken and pork meat. The fundamental measure of antimicrobial resistance is to determine the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of a specific antimicrobial for a specific bacteria. International breakpoints can then be used, if required, to classify organisms as resistant or sensitive. The only equipment available at APHA Weybridge is a multi-point inoculator that is over 25 years old, and can only perform agar dilution MICs using in-house prepared plates, which are time consuming to prepare, and lack an external quality control standard. A Sensititre system, which is present at one of the Regional Laboratories (Bury St. Edmunds), is currently running at maximum capacity and so does not allow for any surge capacity for incidence/outbreak response; this equipment is also old and requires replacement in due course. Therefore the location of additional, up to date equipment at Weybridge and Bury will allow for better contingency. Failure to buy this equipment will mean that APHA Weybridge and Bury will be unable to perform broth microtitre MICs with automated plate reading. Performing MICs manually, as currently performed at Weybridge, is arduous and time consuming. It makes APHA less resilient in the areas or AMR research and surveillance, and it will hamper APHA's ability to respond to outbreaks.

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