1.2b How can metagenomics be utilised as a screening tool for detecting new and emerging food pathogens?
Background
Foodborne disease (FBD) is a major public health risk with 2.4 million individual illnesses and more than 16,000 hospitalisations per year. It imposes an annual burden on society equivalent to £9.1 billion. The majority of human foodborne disease is caused by a handful of pathogens (including norovirus, campylobacter, salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and listeria) which, in most cases, enter the food chain from farmed animals or the environment.
In addition to FBD, the agri-food supply chain also poses a risk for the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Addressing the public health threat posed by AMR is an ongoing strategic priority for the UK and the Government has recently published its new 5-year AMR National Action Plan (NAP) 2024-29 (Opens in a new window), which sets out actions to slow the development and spread of AMR.
The overarching aim of this research priority is to provide evidence to enable the FSA to better control the spread of FBD and AMR within the food supply chain. For both threats, taking a ‘One Health’ approach is important, to understand the sources (e.g. livestock) and routes (e.g. food and environment) of infection and ultimately the impact (e.g. on humans).
As well as characterising new and emerging threats, we need to build our current understanding as to the attribution, prevalence, and nature of existing FBD and AMR risks, filling key evidence gaps which will support improved control measures and enhance food hygiene policy. We are also seeking to build capability in this area through development of new surveillance methods, which in turn can support the FSA’s work on trade and border inspections, as well as supporting broader disease and incident management.
Next steps
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This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:
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Related UKRI funded projects
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BBSRC Institute Strategic Programme: Microbes and Food Safety Partner Grant
The Microbes and Food Safety (MFS) ISP will provide an understanding of how microbial threats, such as pathogens and spoilage-causing bacteria, evolve and interact to affect food safety and develop strategies to reduce t...
Funded by: BBSRC
Lead research organisation: Oxford Brookes University
Why might this be relevant?
Similar to the previous project, this one also addresses microbial threats in food, including the use of metagenome sequencing to identify emerging threats, aligning with the question on utilizing metagenomics for detecting new food pathogens.
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BBSRC Institute Strategic Programme: Microbes and Food Safety Partner Grant
The Microbes and Food Safety (MFS) ISP will provide an understanding of how microbial threats, such as pathogens and spoilage-causing bacteria, evolve and interact to affect food safety and develop strategies to reduce t...
Funded by: BBSRC
Lead research organisation: Royal Veterinary College
Why might this be relevant?
This project specifically focuses on microbial threats in food, including the identification of emerging threats through metagenome sequencing, aligning with the question on utilizing metagenomics for detecting new food pathogens.
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FightAMR: Novel global One Health surveillance approach to fight AMR using Artificial Intelligence and big data mining
Understanding the risk and direction of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) spread through food-borne routes, and developing of interventions to limit the spread of AMR within and between humans, animals, environment and food...
Funded by: MRC
Lead research organisation: King's College London
Why might this be relevant?
The project focuses on utilizing metagenomics to detect antimicrobial resistance spread in the food supply chain, aligning with the question's objective.