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A tipping point reached?

Antibiotic resistance has long been described as a slow-moving pandemic. The World Health Organization’s Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Report 2025, released this month, makes clear that the threat is now imminent — and growing.

According to the WHO data, one in every six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections in humans is now caused by a strain showing resistance to at least one antibiotic. That figure, drawn from over 23 million infection episodes across 104 countries, represents a significant escalation in the global challenge to effective infection control.

While the report is focused on human health, its implications reach well beyond hospitals and clinics. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a One Health issue, connecting human, animal, and environmental health.

For veterinarians, the message is clear: how antibiotics are used on farm, in clinics, and across animal systems matters for the future of both animal and human medicine.

Rising Resistance: A Focus on Gram-Negative Bacteria

The WHO report highlights the accelerating threat posed by Gram-negative pathogens, notably Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Acinetobacter species. These bacteria possess structural defences that make them inherently harder to treat, and many are rapidly acquiring resistance to multiple antibiotic classes.

• In several regions, more than 40% of E. coli bloodstream infections are resistant to third-generation cephalosporins — once considered reliable first-line treatments.

• Resistance in Klebsiella strains in some countries now exceeds 50–55%, leaving few effective therapeutic options.

• Alarming increases are also being recorded in carbapenem and fluoroquinolone resistance, classes that are critical for severe infections in both human and veterinary medicine.

These findings reinforce that resistance is not a distant risk. It is already compromising outcomes in common infections and shrinking the pool of effective antibiotics.

Antibiotic Use: Patterns and Pressures

The WHO’s surveillance data confirm anecdotal evidence that antibiotic use remains uneven, and empirical or prophylactic prescribing is still common.

Excessive reliance on “broad spectrum” or “watch” category antibiotics, combined with limited diagnostic guidance, creates strong selective pressure for resistance. In animal health, where treatment decisions are often made under time pressure, this pattern can be particularly difficult to break.

For veterinarians, these findings highlight the need to move from routine to rationale — from default treatments to data-guided decisions. And the the tools to do so are available.

What This Means for Animal Health — and for Dairy Practice

Although the WHO report is human-focused, its implications for animal agriculture are profound. Antimicrobial resistance moves across species and environments. The same bacterial families implicated in human infections — including E. coli and Klebsiella — are also major causes of disease in livestock, particularly in bovine mastitis.

For decades, mastitis has been one of the main drivers of antibiotic use in dairy herds. Without bacteriological confirmation, treatment has typically relied on broad-spectrum antibiotics, administered empirically and often unnecessarily.

This is changing fast. The increasing availability of on-farm diagnostic technology now allows for precise, evidence-based treatment decisions. At Mastaplex, we developed Mastatest to make this process accessible and reliable: a system that enables bacterial identification and antibiotic sensitivity testing for every milk sample.

This diagnostic approach empowers veterinarians and farmers to:

• Avoid unnecessary treatment when infections are non-bacterial or self-limiting;

• Select the most effective, narrow-spectrum antibiotic when treatment is indicated; and

• Monitor resistance patterns at herd level over time.

The outcome is better clinical management, lower antibiotic usage, and greater confidence that each treatment decision is justified — both biologically and ethically.

Sustaining Effectiveness for the Future

Antibiotics remain essential tools in both veterinary and human medicine, but their continued effectiveness depends on restraint and precision. The WHO’s 2025 data make clear that resistance is advancing fastest where antibiotics are used indiscriminately — and that improved diagnostics are a key part of the solution.

For veterinarians, the responsibility is twofold: to ensure the welfare of the animals under care, and to preserve the medicines that make that care possible. Through diagnostic-led stewardship it is possible to achieve both.

References:

• World Health Organization. Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Report 2025. WHO publication link

• CIDRAP. WHO: Antimicrobial Resistance Widespread Globally and Increasing (2025).

• The Guardian. Sharp Global Rise in Antibiotic-Resistant Infections in Hospitals, WHO Finds (2025).