A powerful group of antibiotics called “carbapenems” are often relied on for infections where treatment with other antibiotics has failed, according to the Journal of Hospital Infection. Experts from the Global One Health initiative (GOHi), in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, are working to train medical professionals in Ethiopia to detect organisms that resist these antibiotics, helping reduce the future incidence of antibiotic resistance in patients.

In a recent training for microbiologists from Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital and Zewditu Memorial Hospital in Addis Ababa, trainees learned specialized testing methods. Each trainee conducted assays on different days to assess the reproducibility of the test, and they found the test method to be 100% sensitive, specific and reproducible in detecting carbapenem-resistant enterobactearales, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter species. Following validation of this test, trainees conducted the first colonization screening for patients suspected to be at risk of harboring the carbapenem-resistant bacteria. Early detection of these carbapenem-resistant organisms will enable facilities to respond rapidly before these multi-drug resistant pathogens widely circulate.

In collaboration with the Infection Prevention and Control team, trainees will use the knowledge, techniques and skills they learned to decrease the spread of these multi-drug resistant pathogens—a win for public health in Ethiopia that furthers the Global One Health vision of reducing the spread of disease, promoting worldwide health and emphasizing the connection among humans, animals and the environment.