The Academy of Finland granted funding 326 344 € for the research project ´Molecular epidemiology and environmental reservoirs for β-lactamase- and carbapenemase producing Enterobacteriaceae in Finland.´

The funding is for three years and the project leader is DVM, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher Annamari Heikinheimo from the Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health.

Antibiotic resistance is rapidly spreading worldwide, and one of great concerns is the rapid growth of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) and carbapenemase resistance in Enterobacteriaceae family, especially in Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli. They cause different infections such as urinary tract infection and soft tissue infections, and resist wide range of antibiotics. These bacteria spread now rapidly in Finnish hospitals and also in community.

Due to global trade and travel, antibiotic resistant bacteria spread rapidly to distant countries and continents by human travelers, animal reservoirs, and foods. Food chain may serve as a transmission route for these infections. Recently found panresistant NDM-1 bacteria possess a worrisome problem if entering the food chain. The transmission routes of ESBL bacteria to humans via foods and food producing animals is being elucidated in this project.

This research project is conducted in collaboration with professor Martti Vaara’s research group from Helsinki Univeristy Hospital (HUSLAB) and professor Frank Aarestrup’s research group from Danish Technical University (DTU). The laboratory in Copenhagen serves as WHO World Health Organization’s collaboration centre and European Union’s reference laboratory for antibiotic resistance in animals and foods.