Antimicrobial Resistance in Foodborne Pathogens: Surveillance, Mechanisms and Mitigation Strategies

Dear Colleagues,

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to be one of the most important challenges in public health, food production, and animal health. Foodborne pathogens play a key role in the spread of resistance, acting as indicators of antimicrobial use in agriculture and as possible carriers of resistance genes across different environments. In recent years, concerns have grown over the presence of resistant bacteria in the food chain, especially in the context of the One Health concept, which highlights the close links between human, animal, and environmental health.

This Special Issue invites contributions that help expand our knowledge of AMR in foodborne pathogens—from how resistance emerges and spreads to how it can be monitored and controlled. We welcome original research articles, short communications, and reviews that explore resistance mechanisms, trends in foodborne bacteria, and practical ways to reduce AMR. Studies involving food-producing animals, food processing environments, or retail food products are particularly relevant. We are especially interested in work that applies a One Health approach or includes data from underrepresented regions or production systems.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to the following:

• Molecular studies and genomic analysis of AMR in foodborne bacteria (e.g., Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria, Escherichia coli);
• New or improved methods for detecting and tracking AMR in food, animals, or the production environment;
• The role of mobile genetic elements (e.g., plasmids, integrons, transposons) in spreading resistance genes;
• Links between antimicrobial use in veterinary medicine and the development of resistance in foodborne pathogens;
• Integrated surveillance systems and cross-sectoral monitoring of AMR in line with the One Health framework;
• How food processing, hygiene practices, and storage affect resistant bacteria in food;
• Mitigation measures to control or reduce AMR along the food chain;
• Studies on resistant bacteria found in retail foods and their possible impact on public health;
• AMR in fermented, artisanal, or traditional food products: challenges and knowledge gaps.

Dr. Teresa Semedo-Lemsaddek
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• antimicrobial resistance
• foodborne pathogens
• One Health
• AMR surveillance
• mobile genetic elements
• antimicrobial usage
• food safety
• mitigation strategies