Making waves
The NORMAN antibiotic resistant bacteria and resistance genes database (NORMAN ARB&ARG)–An invitation for collaboration to tackle antibiotic resistance
Nikiforos Alygizakis (National and Capodistrian University of Athens, Environmental Institute, Slovakia)
Kelsey Ng (Masaryk University, Environmental Institute, Slovakia)
Ľuboš Čirka (Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava)
Thomas Berendonk (Technische Universität Dresden)
Francisco Cerqueira (AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Institut de Diagnòstic Ambiental i Estudis de l'Aigua - CSIC)
Eddie Cytryn (Agricultural Research Organization of Israel)
Geneviève Deviller (DERAC Consultancy)
Gianuario Fortunato (Universidade Católica Portuguesa)
Gabriela K. Paulus (TU Delft - Sanitary Engineering, KWR Water Research Institute, Amazon.com Inc.)
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Abstract
With the global concerns on antibiotic resistance (AR) as a public health issue, it is pivotal to have data exchange platforms for studies on antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment. For this purpose, the NORMAN Association is hosting the NORMAN ARB&ARG database, which was developed within the European project ANSWER. The present article provides an overview on the database functionalities, the extraction and the contribution of data to the database. In this study, AR data from three studies from China and Nepal were extracted and imported into the NORMAN ARB&ARG in addition to the existing AR data from 11 studies (mainly European studies) on the database. This feasibility study demonstrates how the scientific community can share their data on AR to generate an international evidence base to inform AR mitigation strategies. The open and FAIR data are of high potential relevance for regulatory applications, including the development of emission limit values / environmental quality standards in relation to AR. The growth in sharing of data and analytical methods will foster collaboration on risk management of AR worldwide, and facilitate the harmonization in the effort for identification and surveillance of critical hotspots of AR. The NORMAN ARB&ARG database is publicly available at: https://www.norman-network.com/nds/bacteria/.