Health Departments Successfully Combating AR,
CDC Awards Millions

totaling $300+ million since 2016 for state and local health departments
to fight antibiotic resistance (AR)

Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded $71 million across all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and several local health departments to continue their successful work in healthcare, foodborne disease, and the community to detect and respond to antibiotic resistance, prevent the spread of germs, and contain new threats. AR is an urgent public health threat and a CDC priority.

To date, previous awards—made possible by Congressional investments in CDC's AR Solutions Initiative—have improved the nation's domestic epidemiology and laboratory capacity, resulting in successes like:

Testing more than 130,000 specimens (samples) through the AR Lab Network, prompting more than 3,800 alerts for additional public health investigation. These tests have provided critical information to healthcare providers and health departments to help stop the spread of resistance threats like Candida auris and drug-resistant gonorrhea.
Assessing infection control in nearly 5,000 U.S. healthcare facilities to identify and provide recommendations that address gaps in infection control, like hand hygiene and Contact Precautions.

Whole genome sequencing more than 115,000 foodborne (e.g., Salmonella), tuberculosis, and gonorrhea isolates to rapidly identify changes in resistance and inform response to stop spread in communities. Whole genome sequencing is a lab technique that provides genetic information.
Supporting 500+ local experts to identify and respond to AR threats whenever and wherever they emerge.

As part of a new, competitive 5-year Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases (ELC) Cooperative Agreement, CDC continues to fund every U.S. state to combat AR. New this year, the AR Lab Network welcomes the Utah Department of Health Public Health Lab as the mountain regional lab, and will support local lab testing in Puerto Rico and four large cities: New York City, District of Columbia, Houston, and Los Angeles.

Health departments are on the front lines of our national fight against AR. CDC applauds the heroic, critical work continuing at the state and local levels to protect people from this urgent threat.

Learn more about how CDC is fighting AR: https://www.cdc.gov/ARinvestments.