EUCAST: News

Revised EUCAST guidance document on “When there are no breakpoints”.

Fri, 10 Jul 2026 14:36:54 +0200

A revised version of the EUCAST guidance document on “When there are no breakpoints” has been published. The latest reformatted version contains further advice to help laboratories interpret susceptibility testing when there are no breakpoints for either uncommon bacterial species or agents.

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EUCAST responses to comments received regarding proposed breakpoints for anaerobic bacteria.

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 15:05:09 +0200

The EUCAST responses to comments received on the public consultation for proposed breakpoints for new anaerobic bacterial species are published. Many useful comments were received which have contributed to the publication of the breakpoints in the breakpoint tables 16.1.

Publication of Updated Clinical Breakpoint tables, version 16.1.

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 15:12:00 +0200

An updated version (16.1) of the clinical breakpoint tables has been published, including breakpoints for additional anaerobic bacterial species. New breakpoints are now available for Fusobacterium nucleatum, Clostridium innocuum, Clostridium ramosum, Clostridium septicum, Clostridium tertium, Cutibacterium avidum, Finegoldia species, Parvimonas micra, Peptostreptococcus anaerobius and Peptoniphilus species. Existing breakpoints for some agents against Cutibacterium acnes and Fusobacterium necrophorum have also been revised.

Also updated is the EUCAST disk diffusion methodology for rapidly growing anaerobic bacteria (v3.0) however the dosages tab remains unchanged (v16.0).

Review of carbapenem, carbapenem-beta-lactamase inhibitor and ceftazidime-avibactam breakpoints.

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 14:14:00 +0200

Review of breakpoints for ertapenem, imipenem, imipenem-relebactam, meropenem, meropenem-vaborbactam and ceftazidime-avibactam are ongoing. Following the second of two consultations, EUCAST will publish responses to comments received on the website shortly. The Steering Committee will continue to develop a new carbapenem breakpoint proposal for consultation later in 2026, with planned publication in v17.0 of the breakpoint tables.

Public Consultation on the first version of the Preliminary VetCAST clinical breakpoint tables.

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 16:22:00 +0200

A public consultation is now open on the first version of the VetCAST preliminary clinical breakpoint tables. Clinical breakpoints to a number of antimicrobial agents against common veterinary bacterial pathogens are available for use in veterinary clinical practice. Closing date of the consultation is 28 August 2026.

Publication of rationale documents for itraconazole and fluconazole.

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 10:15:23 +0200

The Anti-Fungal Susceptibility Testing (AFST) sub-committee has published updated rationale documents on itraconazole and fluconazole.

Publication of the Review of whole genome sequencing to predict antimicrobial susceptibility in bacteria.

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 12:18:11 +0200

The EUCAST subcommittee on the role of whole genome sequencing (WGS) in antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) has published its second review: The role of whole genome sequencing in antimicrobial susceptibility prediction of bacteria: 2025 update from the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Subcommittee.

Rationale document for gepotidacin published

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 12:16:32 +0200

The rationale document for gepotidacin has been published. This follows the recent publication of gepotidacin breakpoints in version 16.0 of the breakpoint tables for Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus saprophyticus and Enterococcus faecalis.

Join us for the ESCMID Post Graduate Course on Antimicrobial Susceptibility testing

Fri, 29 May 2026 10:05:56 +0200

The ESCMID Post Graduate Course on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing will take place in Zagreb, Croatia on 09-11 September. The course will focus on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing with EUCAST Criteria and Methods and will include talks from many EUCAST Steering Committee members.

NAC and Industry meeting with EUCAST Steering Committee

Thu, 28 May 2026 16:49:08 +0200

Invited NAC contacts will meet with the EUCAST Steering committee on 29 May 2026 to continue discussing recent changes to breakpoints and upcoming proposals. Any contacts from manufacturing wishing to attend may do so by contacting Mandy Wootton.

A Thank you to Christian Giske, a longstanding member EUCAST

Fri, 15 May 2026 09:06:14 +0200

Christian joined the EUCAST Steering Committee in 2008 as a representative of the Swedish Reference Group for Antibiotics, however prior to this he was already a regular contributor to EUCAST. He served as Chair of EUCAST between 2016 – 2024 and Immediate past chair from 2024 - 2026. During this time, he led many initiatives including modification of the Susceptible (S)/Susceptible, increased exposure (I)/Resistant (R) definitions, publication of the EUCAST guidelines for detection of resistance mechanisms, introduction of bracketed breakpoints to deal with the situation where the antimicrobial is insufficient for use in monotherapy and latterly introduction of digital EUCAST meetings during the COVID pandemic. He played an active role in the Anti-Mycobacteria Susceptibility Testing, the Anti-Fungal Susceptibility Testing, the Phage Susceptibility Testing and the Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) and Phenotypic Susceptibility Testing subcommittees.

Christian has been a regular face at EUCAST workshops and educational events throughout the years and is an excellent communicator of the more difficult decisions taken by EUCAST. He has also been the driving force within NordicAST, a joint susceptibility testing group for Nordic countries. He was also EUCAST observer in the EARS-Net DNCC (Disease Network Coordination Committee) for many years. Christian has authored multiple papers on behalf of EUCAST, explaining and defending EUCAST strategy on determination of clinical breakpoints but also on the role of future technologies to detect antibiotic resistance and in 2017 the first publication of guidance for WGS-based antimicrobial susceptibility prediction.

We thank Christian for his outstanding contributions to EUCAST over the years and his tireless devotion to the scientific endeavour, his efforts will be missed. We are sure that his future at ECDC will be fruitful and hope for his continued communication with EUCAST.

Public consultation on Guidance for Antimicrobial Agent Developers Considering a Modification of The Standard Reference Method for Susceptibility Testing.

Mon, 11 May 2026 14:30:36 +0200

A EUCAST Standard Operating Procedure (SOP 14) offering guidance on the development of modified testing methods for new agents is open for consultation. The SOP has been developed in conjunction with CLSI, whose identical document is published under the title “Guidance for Antimicrobial Agent Developers Considering a Modification of The Standard Reference Method for Susceptibility Testing. 1st ed. CLSI supplement M23S4”. Deadline for comments is 8 June 2026.

New Public Consultation on Proposed Breakpoints for antimicrobial agents against further Species of Anaerobic Bacteria

Mon, 04 May 2026 10:20:08 +0200

Breakpoints for antimicrobial agents against the following species are proposed: Clostridium innocuum, Clostridium ramosum, Clostridium septicum, Clostridium tertium, Cutibacterium avidum, Finegoldia magna, Parvimonas micra, Peptostreptococcus anaerobius and Peptoniphilus spp.. For Fusobacterium, common breakpoints for F. necrophorum and F. nucleatum are proposed which would result in revised breakpoints for some agents against F. necrophorum. An appendix presents the data to support the breakpoint proposals. Deadline for comments is 8 June 2026.

New Public Consultation on Meropenem Breakpoints for Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter species

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 13:16:42 +0200

Following a review of the comments submitted to the recent consultation on carbapenem breakpoints for Gram-negative bacteria, a further proposal on meropenem breakpoints on Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter species is published. Please submit any comments using the form on the Public Consultations webpage, deadline is 1 June 2026.

Guidance Document on Cephalosporins for Staphylococcus aureus Infection updated

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 11:39:16 +0200

The Guidance Document on Cephalosporins for Staphylococcus aureus Infection was updated to include further advice for oral antimicrobial agents.

Update to warning on testing of amphotericin B

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:55:53 +0200

The Antifungal Susceptibility Testing (AFST) subcommittee has updated the warning regarding testing of amphotericin B against C. auris. Advice on several commercially available products have been updated.

Publication of new breakpoints for fungi

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:48:02 +0200

Version 12.1 of the fungi breakpoint tables is now published which includes correction of typographical errors for voriconazole breakpoints against Candida albicans and C. dubliniensis.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) updated

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 13:09:00 +0200

The frequently asked questions document has recently been updated to include questions and answers relating to methods and breakpoints.

Public consultation on a working protocol on MIC determination for Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM)

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0100

A public consultation is open on a new working protocol for determining MICs of amikacin, clarithromycin and azithromycin on reference strains of Mycobacterium avium ATCC 700898 and Mycobacterium abscessus ATCC19977, using the EUCAST Reference protocol for MIC determination of anti-mycobacterial agents against isolates of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). Closing date for comments is 17 April 2026.

EUCAST General Committee at ESCMID-Global 2026

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 13:07:00 +0100

Members of the EUCAST Steering Committee will present the achievements of 2025 and discuss the topics for attention in 2026. Presentations from the subcommittees on susceptibility testing of fungi (AFST) and mycobacteria (AMST) as well as Veterinary Subcommittee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (VetCAST), Subcommittee on WGS and Phenotypic AST (WGS) and Subcommittee on Phage susceptibility testing (PST). This is an open meeting where all are welcome!

Call out to National Antimicrobial Committees (NACs)

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 16:23:25 +0100

EUCAST will soon be arranging a webinar to communicate with NACs. If you have an existing NAC in your country, then please check that the details on the EUCAST website are correct. If your country does not have a NAC but wants to develop one, then please see our website on how to. Please send details of any new NAC using the button on the NAC webpage.

Updated MIC:ZD correlations published

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +0100

Updated versions of MIC:ZD correlations have been published for relevant bacterial species. These correlations form the basis of validation of zone diameter criteria for disk diffusion methodology.

Revised breakpoints for carbapenems (with and without inhibitors) plus ceftazidime-avibactam

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:02:49 +0100

A public consultation on revised carbapenem (with and without inhibitors) and ceftazidime-avibactam breakpoints against Gram-negative bacteria has been published. The revised breakpoints are presented along with rationale and evidence for the changes. Please comment via the consultation form….

A Thank you to Gunnar Kahlmeter, the Founder and Architect of EUCAST

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 16:53:40 +0100

In 2001 Professor Gunnar Kahlmeter was tasked to restructure EUCAST, and became the chair of the organization between 2002-2012, followed by a period first as clinical data co-ordinator and then as technical data co-ordinator until the end of 2025. He was also the founder of the EUCAST Development Lab and served as its director until 2024. Professor Kahlmeter also developed the EUCAST website into an internationally esteemed library on everything related to antimicrobial susceptibility testing. He served as its webmaster until 2025.

Professor Kahlmeter has played a pivotal role in international antimicrobial susceptibility testing and clinical breakpoint setting over a period of a quarter of a century, and he served in similar roles both for the Swedish Reference Group for Antibiotics and the British Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. He is known internationally for introducing concepts such as epidemiological cut-off values, devising the EUCAST public consultation process, revising the EUCAST definition of the I-category, introducing the concept of the area of technical uncertainty (ATU), and for developing rapid 4 – 6 hour phenotypic susceptibility testing directly from positive blood culture bottles.

Starting from 2026, he has stepped down from his duties as technical data co-ordinator in the EUCAST Steering Committee but will continue to contribute to the subcommittee for determining wild type MIC distributions and the setting of epidemiological cut-off values and to be part of the antimycobacterial subcommittee. We thank him wholeheartedly for his efforts for EUCAST for over a quarter of a century.

Update on version 16.0 Breakpoint Tables for bacteria/mycobacteria

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 14:48:00 +0100

Watch the webinar now on ESCMID Media. Log in with your ESCMID account, or create a free 'registered user' account to watch.

Updated EUCAST RAST breakpoints, methodology and correlation and validation documents published.

Fri, 16 Jan 2026 15:17:51 +0100

Updated versions of the RAST breakpoint tables, the methods and QC documents and the RAST MIC:ZD correlations for all relevant species, including new developed data for S. enterica.

EUCAST wish to contact NACs; request for information

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 13:58:44 +0100

In 2026, the EUCAST Steering Committee wish to improve communication with all NACs to create a closer network for education and exchange of information. If your country has an established National Antimicrobial Committee, we would like to request you get in touch with us via the button below.

Submit NACs details

New “Routine and extended internal quality control for MIC determination and agar dilution for yeasts, moulds and dermatophytes as recommended by EUCAST”

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 15:07:53 +0100

The EUCAST AFST have recently published v 8.0 of the routine and extended quality control ranges and targets for MIC determination in yeasts, moulds and dermatophytes, including revised QC ranges for fluconazole against CNM-CL F8555 and separate sheets for the two strains C. albicans ATCCC 64548 and ATCC 64550.

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How to interpret MICs of amphotericin B, echinocandins and flucytosine against Candida auris (Candidozyma auris) according to the newly established EUCAST breakpoints

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 12:05:38 +0100

M.C. Arendrup et al. / Clinical Microbiology and Infection 32 (2026) 56—61.
EUCAST guidance on how to interpret EUCAST MICs against C. auris has been released in CMI as open access article.

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Version 16.0 of the breakpoint tables: what’s new

Fri, 02 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +0100

Version 16.0 of the breakpoint tables include new breakpoints for gepotidacin against E. coli, S. saprohyticus and E. faecalis, revised breakpoints for trimethoprim and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for several species, restriction of daptomycin breakpoints to S. aureus only, a revised comment for carbapenem interpretation in Enterobacterales when a carbapenemase is detected, revised breakpoints for ampicillin and amoxicillin in endocarditis and meningitis against S. pneumoniae and Breakpoints for M. tuberculosis and bedaquiline determined using the EUCAST reference method.