The Spanish Agency for Drugs and Health Products (AEMPS), of the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, has announced the awards of the "National Antibiotics Resistance Plan" (PRAN) 2017 to five projects developed in the field of the fight against the antimicrobial resistance.

The article "Spread of mcr-1-carrying Enterobacteriaceae in sewage water from Spain", presented by Bruno González-Zorn, professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and researcher at the VISAVET Center of the Complutense University of Madrid, has been awarded in the category of best scientific publication on antibiotics resistance.

The article, published in the journal The Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy last year, investigate the presence of mcr-1-harbouring Enterobacteriaceae in water samples obtained from rivers and waste water treatment plants in the area of Barcelona, Spain. The results showed a high occurrence of mcr-1 in the sewage of Barcelona, mainly due to the dissemination of two E. coli pulsotypes that are circulating in the population. The presence of mcr-1 in the environment is a cause for concern, and suggests high prevalence of mcr-1 in the community.

In the process of awarding the PRAN Awards, a total of 60 applications have been evaluated considering the methodology used, the results obtained, the expected continuity, the established synergies and the level of innovation of each project.