The current quality standards for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of veterinary pathogens are far from being optimal or complete, making the predictive value of susceptibility data in veterinary diagnostics questionable.
Completed project
The absence of sufficient animal species-specific breakpoints affects the possibility for veterinary practitioners to prescribe antibiotics rationally, because there is no basis for determining whether a bacterial strain is clinically resistant or not. The development of animal-specific breakpoints helps in preventing misuse of antibiotics in animals.
The objectives of VetCAST are:
- To define science based clinical MIC-breakpoints (CBPs) in order to harmonise the results of antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) of veterinary pathogens in Europe
- To provide a joint European forum for veterinary microbiologists, pharmacologists and clinicians working in research, public health and animal healthcare, including both public and private organizations to promote the importance of harmonized veterinary AST
Network partners
- Dik Mevius, Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands (Coordinator)
This network includes 51 partners, please click on the following link to see complete network composition: Network composition Veterinary Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (VetCAST)
Project resources
Veterinary Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (VetCAST)
