8.2 Determine emerging forms of AMR in environmental compartments and/or hotspots

By measuring AMR in environmental compartments or hotspots such as WWTPs, it is possible to keep track of emerging resistant microbes or emerging resistance mechanisms. Emerging means newly increasing or upcoming.

These could develop in the environment through transmission of naturally occurring ARGs into pathogenic bacteria, including under the selection pressure of antibiotic residues or heavy metals. (Heavy metals can also have antimicrobial properties. ARGs can be co-selected by heavy metals if resistance genes for antimicrobials and heavy metals reside in identical pieces of DNA).