NARMS stands for which of the following?

• A. National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System
• B. National Animal Health Monitoring System
• C. National Agricultural Antibiotic Residue Monitoring System
• D. National Association for Rural Medicine Studies

Answer: (A)

NARMS stands for National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System. It is a U.S. federal surveillance program, a collaboration among FDA, CDC, and USDA, that tracks how bacteria causing foodborne illness respond to antibiotics. Data are collected from human clinical isolates, animals, and retail meat, focusing on common pathogens like Salmonella, Campylobacter, and E. coli. By monitoring resistance patterns over time, NARMS helps detect emerging resistance, informs human treatment guidelines, and guides policy and antibiotic use in agriculture to protect public health. The other names don’t fit because they describe programs or purposes unrelated to monitoring antimicrobial resistance.