Ga. Dept. of Agriculture - NARMS

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NARMS - Project Summary/Abstract The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) is the state agency responsible for regulation of food manufactured facilities and retail establishments. GDA Laboratories (Lab) are the primary servicing laboratories for the regulatory programs and are focused on food analysis for chemical and microbiological contaminants. Since 2011, GDA has pursued FDA grants and cooperative agreements to improve and harmonize our state regulatory and testing capability. Through these grants the Lab achieved accreditation to ISO 17025 international standards which allows our regulatory agencies to perform contractual work on behalf of FDA. Since GDA is Georgia’s regulatory authority over food retail establishments, the agency has inspectors positioned all throughout The State of Georgia. These inspectors are trained to collect samples and return them to our lab for testing that can support regulatory enforcement. Since GDA already has infrastructure designated for sample collection at retail establishments and the analysis of microorganisms by the Lab, this award opportunity NARMS (National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitory System) should make a good fit to be implemented by GDA. The Georgia Department of Public Health (GDPH) Laboratory is currently awarded this grant but has contacted GDA to request assistance or taking it over since the COVID 19 pandemic has become their top priority. In summary, GDA inspectors will collect the samples and send them to the Lab per routine protocols. The Lab will screen the samples for the target organisms suggested in the Funding Opportunity Award (FOA). The Lab will utilize methods described in the project protocol in addition to screening by approved and validated ELISA or PCR platforms. Isolates showing typical characteristics will be further examined and confirmed or sent to FDA for further evaluation. As needed, GDPH has agreed to also assist in in Whole Genome Sequencing of the isolates, since GDA does not currently have that ability, in addition to mentoring of the methods and program until fully established. The Lab has developed and demonstrated successful relationships with their regulatory partners and the GDPH Lab, which should indicate its ability to fulfill this objective. The Lab also routinely performs thousands of microbiological analyses on retail food samples annually. If awarded, GDA will be capable of enhancing and strengthening antimicrobial resistance surveillance data. This in turn can be used to inform public health stakeholders about populations of resistant strains and if current policy and practices are adequate for overall safety of consumers.