FAO Renews Mississippi State University as Global Reference Centre on Antimicrobial Resistance and Aquaculture Biosecurity

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has renewed the designation of Mississippi State University as an FAO Reference Centre on Antimicrobial Resistance and Aquaculture Biosecurity, extending the partnership for a further five-year period through October 2031. The renewal follows a positive review of the university’s performance since it was first named an FAO Reference Centre in 2022, a period during which the institution delivered a substantial body of scientific output, technical guidance and capacity-building activity in support of the organization’s global mandate. The centre is housed within the university’s Global Center for Aquatic Health and Food Security, which coordinates research, diagnostics, education and extension work on the health of aquatic animals and the safety of the food systems that depend on them.

Antimicrobial resistance, commonly abbreviated as AMR, occurs when bacteria, viruses or other microorganisms evolve the ability to withstand treatments such as antibiotics that would normally kill them or stop their growth. In aquaculture, the farming of fish, crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic organisms, the emergence of resistant pathogens is a particular concern because intensive production systems can create conditions in which disease spreads rapidly and antimicrobials are used to control outbreaks. When resistant organisms develop in aquatic environments, they can move through water, food chains and human contact, complicating treatment of infections in animals and people alike. Responsible antimicrobial use, coupled with strong biosecurity measures that prevent disease from entering or spreading within farms, is therefore regarded internationally as a cornerstone of sustainable aquatic food production.

Mississippi State University brings a long institutional history to this role. As a land-grant university with leading expertise in fisheries and aquaculture, veterinary medicine and international food security, it has worked with FAO on antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance, aquaculture biosecurity and aquatic animal health. The renewal of the reference centre designation signals that the organization’s reviewers judged the university’s contributions during the first designation period to have met the standards expected of a centre that provides authoritative scientific advice to FAO and its member nations. The agreement positions the university to continue supplying the technical competencies needed to strengthen capacity development efforts worldwide.

University President Mark E. Keenum said he looks forward to the institution continuing this important work under the renewed agreement. According to Keenum, the renewal means the university will continue to provide the scientific expertise and technical competencies needed to strengthen capacity development efforts that support FAO’s work in promoting the responsible use of antimicrobials in aquaculture and reducing the risks associated with antimicrobial resistance. He added that Mississippi State will also continue to support FAO’s efforts to advance responsible aquaculture practices and strengthen aquaculture biosecurity worldwide, framing the partnership as an extension of the university’s land-grant mission into the international arena.

The renewal was marked in person at FAO headquarters in Rome, where Mississippi State Provost and Executive Vice President David Shaw and other university leaders met with officials on September 22 as part of a broader agri-food systems conference. The discussions focused on building more resilient food systems, a theme that has grown in urgency as aquatic foods supply an increasing share of animal protein for a growing global population while facing mounting pressures from disease, environmental change and intensifying production. The Rome meeting provided an opportunity to align the centre’s next five-year work programme with FAO’s strategic priorities on antimicrobial resistance and biosecure aquaculture.

Shaw emphasized the interconnected nature of the challenges the centre addresses. He noted that issues related to food security, animal health, environmental stewardship and human well-being are often deeply intertwined, even when institutions attempt to address them separately, and that aquatic food systems provide a particularly compelling example of those connections. In his view, the university’s experience in aquaculture, veterinary medicine and international food-security initiatives has repeatedly reinforced why collaborative, multidisciplinary approaches are essential. Addressing antimicrobial resistance, he said, requires scientists, veterinarians, producers, policymakers, regulators, environmental specialists and public health experts to work together across disciplines and sectors rather than in isolation.

Shaw also argued that universities carry a responsibility that goes beyond generating knowledge. As a land-grant institution, Mississippi State believes strongly that universities must connect expertise across disciplines and translate that knowledge into practical solutions for producers and communities. He described antimicrobial resistance as a reminder that complex challenges demand integrated approaches, and he identified a central lesson that the partnership with FAO highlights: the most effective response to disease is often prevention. That principle, in which biosecurity and good husbandry reduce the need for antimicrobial treatment in the first place, sits at the heart of the reference centre’s technical philosophy.

Stephen Reichley, who heads the FAO Reference Centre and serves as associate director of the Global Center for Aquatic Health and Food Security, said the redesignation recognizes the university’s continuing contributions at the intersection of aquatic animal health, antimicrobial stewardship, aquaculture biosecurity, food security and One Health. The One Health framework, which treats human, animal and environmental health as inseparable, has become the dominant lens through which international agencies approach antimicrobial resistance, since resistant organisms and the genes that confer resistance can circulate among people, livestock, wildlife, water and soil. Reichley noted that the work also reinforces the university’s role in supporting both the United States aquaculture sector and international efforts to build sustainable, biosecure aquatic food systems.

Reichley described the five-year redesignation as a reflection of FAO’s continued confidence in Mississippi State and, more importantly, as another opportunity to put the university’s expertise to work on challenges that affect producers and food systems around the world. By connecting research, diagnostics, education and extension, he said, the centre can help prevent aquatic animal disease, promote responsible antimicrobial use and strengthen aquaculture biosecurity from Mississippi to the global level. That combination of laboratory science, field diagnostics and outreach is characteristic of the land-grant model, in which discoveries move from research settings into the hands of farmers, veterinarians and regulators who can apply them.

The measurable record of the first designation period underlines the scale of that contribution. Between 2022 and the renewal, Mississippi State reported 47 scientific papers on antimicrobial resistance and aquatic biosecurity to FAO, along with 139 presentations and more than 30 research projects that advanced understanding of AMR in aquatic environments and improved aquaculture biosecurity practices. Those outputs fed directly into FAO’s mission of providing authoritative advice to its member nations, informing guidance on how farms can reduce disease risk through stocking density management, water quality control, vaccination, diagnostic surveillance and other preventive measures that limit the need for antimicrobials. With the agreement now extended through October 2031, the centre is positioned to build on that foundation at a moment when demand for aquatic protein is rising and the global fight against antimicrobial resistance has never been more consequential. Ongoing workshops and events connected to the centre’s work are listed through the Global Center for Aquatic Health and Food Security, offering producers, researchers and policymakers continuing avenues to engage with the science of biosecure, responsible aquaculture.

Subject of Research: Renewal of an FAO reference centre designation for research on antimicrobial resistance and biosecurity in aquaculture

Article Title: FAO renews university's designation as Reference Centre on Antimicrobial Resistance and Aquaculture Biosecurity

Article References: FAO renews university's designation as Reference Centre on Antimicrobial Resistance and Aquaculture Biosecurity. (n.d.). Original publication

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Keywords: antimicrobial resistance, aquaculture, biosecurity, FAO, Mississippi State University, aquatic animal health, One Health, food security, antimicrobial stewardship, global center for aquatic health and food security, sustainable aquaculture, fish health