The World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) is a global campaign to raise awareness and understanding of AMR and promote best practices among One Health stakeholders to reduce the emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections. WAAW is celebrated from 18-24 November every year. The theme for the World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) 2024 is “Educate. Advocate. Act now.” This theme was chosen based on feedback from an online survey among stakeholders from the human, animal, plant, and environmental health sectors.

The Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IZSVe) joined the initiative by participating in the international workshop titled “Utilizing Microbiome and Genetic Resources for Understanding and Mitigating Microbial Resistance in One Health Context.” This event was scheduled in November 18-22, 2024, in Mangalore, India. The workshop was organized by Nitte University – FAO Reference Center for AMR and Biosafety in Aquaculture, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Other contributors included the IZSVe’s National Reference Center for Fish, Crustacean and Mollusc Pathology, and FAO Reference Centers from UK (CEFAS) and  USA (Mississippi State University, MSU).

Amedeo Manfrin and Luana Cortinovis joined the workshop as experts, illustrating the experience of the European Union and Italy in this important topic and organizing practical exercises aimed at training technical personnel from over 30 Asian and African countries about main phenotypic testing techniques (disc diffusion and MIC – Minimal Inhibitory Concentration).

More generally, the workshop focused on the One Health approach to tackle the issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in aquaculture and related ecosystems. This initiative reflects international efforts to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR) using a One Health approach, integrating expertise from various sectors such as aquaculture, microbiology, genetics, microbiome research, and global health to tackle AMR issues in aquatic environments.

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