RIVM Publications Repository

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  • Publication
    Diseases associated with antimicrobial use in pig farms and risk factors thereof: A cross-sectional study in the Netherlands
    (2025-04-14) Mallioris, Panagiotis; Stefanopoulou, Magdalini; Luiken, Roosmarijn EC; Wagenaar, Jaap A; Stegeman, Arjan; Mughini-Gras, Lapo
    Current antimicrobial use (AMU) in Dutch pig farms is driven by herd health status, as only therapeutic AMU is permitted. This study focused on weaners and sows with suckling piglets to examine the diseases associated with i) overall AMU (measured in Defined Daily Dosage Animal per year - DDDA/Y), ii) use/not use of specific antimicrobial classes, iii) total consumption of specific antimicrobial classes (in DDDA/Y), and iv) farm characteristics linked to the occurrence of diseases that require AMU.
  • Publication
    Genomic epidemiology of Enteritidis human infections in the Netherlands, 2019 to 2023
    (2025-04) Chanamé Pinedo, Linda E; Franz, Eelco; Dallman, Timothy J; Coipan, Claudia E; Wolthuis, Roxanne; Veldman, Kees T; Mughini-Gras, Lapo; Pijnacker, Roan; van den Beld, Maaike JC
    serotype Enteritidis (SE) is a common foodborne pathogen that can cause human salmonellosis. Identifying closely related cases is essential to control the pathogen through, e.g. outbreak investigation, but it is often challenging due to the low genetic diversity of SE, particularly with traditional typing methods. This study aimed to investigate the population structure of SE genomes collected during routine surveillance in the Netherlands using whole-genome sequencing (WGS), their clustering, temporal distribution and the association between epidemiological and phenotypic antimicrobial resistance (AMR) factors and the persistence of SE clusters. We also investigated the distribution of genotypic AMR markers among these isolates. The study collection comprised 1,669 unique SE isolates from human infections collected from Dutch surveillance between 2019 and 2023, and their relatedness was derived using core-genome multi-locus sequence typing and Hamming distances. Based on the results, the 216 clusters comprised 1,085 sequences, in addition to 584 sequences depicted as singletons. These clusters predominantly fell within three major lineages, of which two were the previously described Global and Atlantic lineages. Of these clusters, approximately a third persisted for more than 1 year during the 5-year study period. However, no statistically significant associations were found between epidemiological factors, such as age, gender and travel history, or phenotypic AMR and the persistence of SE clusters. The most common AMR genetic markers observed were related to antimicrobial classes of (fluor)quinolones, -lactamases and aminoglycosides. This study provides a better understanding of the genomic epidemiology of SE in the Netherlands based on WGS. Further analysis that includes samples from the food-chain supply, along with higher resolution methods during a post-Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) period, may provide more insights into the possible causes of the persistence of SE clusters.
  • Publication
    Chrono-optimizing vaccine administration: a systematic review and meta-analysis
    (2025-04-07) Vink, Koen; Kusters, Johannes; Wallinga, Jacco
    Increasing evidence suggests that vaccine responses may vary based on the time of day of administration. This systematic review provides a comprehensive overview of the impact of vaccination timing on immune responses, to assess its potential role in optimizing vaccination programs.
  • Publication
    Contributions of the joint FAO/WHO expert committee on food additives to international food safety: celebrating the 100th meeting of the committee
    (2025-04-16) Benford, Diane; Boobis, Alan; Cantrill, Richard; Cressey, Peter; Dessipri, Eugenia; Kabadi, Shruti V; Jeurissen, Suzanne; Mueller, Utz; Barlow, Susan
    The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) is an international scientific committee that carries out safety and risk assessments on substances that are intended to be added to food or may be present in food. It advises the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the member countries of the Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Health Organization. In 2025, JECFA has its 100th meeting. This paper reviews the work of JECFA since its inception in 1956. The Committee has evaluated over 660 food additives, 105 enzymes, 2500 flavourings, 11 groups of natural toxicants, 12 metals, 25 groups of synthetic chemical contaminants, and residues of 115 veterinary drugs. The Committee has made major contributions internationally on risk assessment methodology for food safety, including the setting of health-based guidance values for chemicals in food, the evaluation of genotoxic and carcinogenic contaminants in food, benchmark dose analysis, use of body burden comparisons, and global approaches to dietary exposure assessment. JECFA advice is independent and based on objective, state-of-the-science assessment of the evidence. Its advice and evaluations are a freely available online resource and play a pivotal role in ensuring the protection of consumer health and enabling the international trade of safe food.
  • Publication
    Outer membrane vesicles of carbapenem-resistant clinical Acinetobacter baumannii isolates protect both the vesicle-producing bacteria and non-resistant bacteria against carbapenems
    (2025-04-12) Monteiro, Rodrigo; Alcantud, Beatriz Santamarina; Piersma, Sjouke; Hendrickx, Antoni PA; Maaß, Sandra; Becher, Dörte; Azeredo, Joana; Bathoorn, Erik; van Dijl, Jan Maarten
    Infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii; CRAb) are associated with high patient morbidity and mortality. The serious threat for human health imposed by CRAb was recently underscored by identification of close-to-untouchable carbapenem- and tetracycline-resistant isolates. Since outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) of Gram-negative bacteria may contribute to antimicrobial resistance, our present study was aimed at investigating OMVs produced by the first two carbapenem- and tetracycline-resistant A. baumannii isolates in Europe. These isolates, denoted CRAb1 and CRAb2, contain large, nearly identical plasmids that specify multiple resistances. Both isolates produce OMVs that were analyzed by differential light scattering, transmission electron microscopy and proteomics. By comparison with OMVs from the plasmid-free non-carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii isolate Ab1, which is an isogenic ancestor of the CRAb1 isolate, we show that plasmid carriage by the CRAb1 and CRAb2 isolates leads to an increased OMV size that is accompanied by increased diversity of the OMV proteome. Our analyses show that OMVs from CRAb1 and CRAb2 are major reservoirs of proteins involved in antimicrobial resistance, including the plasmid-encoded carbapenemases New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase-1 (NDM-1), and carbapenem-hydrolyzing oxacillinase OXA-97 (OXA-97). Here we report that these OMV-borne carbapenemases hydrolyze imipenem and protect otherwise carbapenem-sensitive A. baumannii and Escherichia coli (E. coli) isolates against this antibiotic. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that OMVs from highly drug-resistant CRAb confer protection against last-resort antibiotics to non-resistant bacterial pathogens.

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