The European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing - EUCAST

EUCAST is a standing committee jointly organized by ESCMID, ECDC and European national breakpoint committees. EUCAST was formed in 1997. It has been chaired by Ian Phillips (1997 - 2001), Gunnar Kahlmeter (2001 - 2012), Rafael Canton 2012 - 2016) and Christian Giske (2016 - 2024), Sören Gatermann (2024 - ). Its scientific secretary is Derek Brown (1997 - 2016), John Turnidge (2016 - 2023) and  Mandy Wootton (2023 - ).

The EUCAST webmaster is Gunnar Kahlmeter (2001 - ), the clinical data coordinator Rafael Canton (2016-), the technical data coordinator Gunnar Kahlmeter (2012 - ), the head of the EDL for bacteria Gunnar Kahlmeter (2010 - 2024) and Erika Matuschek (2024 - ), the head of the EDL for fungi Maiken Cavling-Arendrup (2010 - ). 

EUCAST projects for 2024:

• addressing breakpoint criteria and disk diffusion for new agents - addenda and rationale documents for two new agents published during 2024.
• reviewing criteria for pathogens frequently involved in endocarditis - public consultation 14 Sept - 25 Oct, 2024.
• developing disk diffusion methodology for Neisseria gonorrhoeae - breakpoint review and disk diffusion expected for mid-2025
• extending the panel of agents with breakpoints and disk diffusion criteria for anaerobic bacteria (Clostridium ramosum, Clostridium innocuum, Clostridium tertium, Clostridium septicum, Cutibacterium avidum, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Finegoldia magna, Parvimonas micra, Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, Peptoniphilus spp.) - project ongoing, breakpoint discussions in EUCAST spring 2025.
• evaluating alternative (alternative to MH-F with horse-blood) media for fastidious microorganisms - results and formal advice available by early 2025.
• developing RAST criteria for Salmonella enterica - project concluded, criteria available on EUCAST website.
• developing reference methods and criteria for mycobacteria and for veterinary purposes, participate in the development of reference methodology for Mycobacterium spp and several veterinary agents and pathogens. Ongoing.

The EUCAST Development Laboratory for antibacterial agents is located in Sweden and can be addressed through erika.matuschek[at]eucast.org or gunnar.kahlmeter[at]eucast.org.

The EUCAST Development Laboratory for antifungal agents is located in Denmark and can be addressed through maca[at]ssi.dk.

The EUCAST MIC and Zone diameter distribution open website is organised through Gunnar Kahlmeter and John Turnidge.

For EUCAST subcommittees - see page Subcommittees.

EUCAST deals with breakpoints and technical aspects of phenotypic in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility testing and functions as a breakpoint committee to assist EMA and ECDC. EUCAST does not deal with antibiotic policies, surveillance or containment of resistance or infection control. The Steering Committee is the decision making body. It is supported by a General Committee with representatives from European and other countries. 

Consultation! The EUCAST consultations are publicly available on the EUCAST website. All major decisions are subject to 4 - 12 weeks of consultation.  

Warnings! Users of EUCAST guidelines are encouraged to make EUCAST aware of malfunctioning AST material and devices. Investigations into such reports sometimes result in an official EUCAST Warning which is then posted on the EUCAST Warnings website. 

Since 2019, all European countries are on European guidelines and from 2020, only data generated by laboratories using EUCAST breakpoints and methods are accepted by ECDC.

Many countries outside Europe have also decided to follow EUCAST guidance. See EUCAST maps.

Breakpoints for new agents are set as part of the licensing process for new agents through EMA or national medicines agencies. EUCAST breakpoints are available in devices for automated susceptibility testing but, depending on the system, with some limitations.

EUCAST develops a disk diffusion susceptibility test method calibrated to EUCAST MIC breakpoints. New agents rapidly obtain zone diameter breakpoint correlates but there are some limitations. Previous national disk diffusion tests have been abandoned and results with these are no longer accepted by authorities. EUCAST can assist laboratories aiming to switch to EUCAST methods and breakpoints.

Anyone with an interest in antimicrobial agents in general and antimicrobial breakpoints in particular is invited to contact EUCAST, ESCMID or one of the National Breakpoint Committees. Use the EUCAST subject related contact form.

IVDR - EUCAST has been asked to formulate a standpoint and to give advice on how the IVDR directive may influence users of EUCAST methods and guidelines. 

To cite the EUCAST website or a document on the EUCAST website: List the document name, version, year and the full web adress. For example, if you want to refer to the current EUCAST breakpoint table, the citation reads "The European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing. Breakpoint tables for interpretation of MICs and zone diameters, version 10.0, 2020" (or another relevant version and year). http://www.eucast.org/clinical_breakpoints/.

Copyright (English): The copyright of all documents, data, presentations and videos published on the EUCAST website remains with EUCAST. All are freely available for re-use if reference to the EUCAST website is given and they are not resold.

Any secondary publication of documents, data, presentations and videos must be referenced with the declaration that "These data have (or this document, presentation or video has) been produced in part under ECDC service contracts and made available by EUCAST at no cost to the user and can be accessed on the EUCAST website www.eucast.org. The views and opinions expressed are those of EUCAST at a given point in time. EUCAST recommendations are frequently updated and the latest versions are available at www.eucast.org. 

Droits d'auteur (Français): Les droits d’auteurs de tous les documents (présentations, vidéo) établis par l’EUCAST et publiés en ligne sur le site de l’EUCAST restent la propriété de l’EUCAST.  Ces documents (présentation, vidéo) sont libres d’accès et gratuits. Ils peuvent  être utilisés à condition d’indiquer la référence du site EUCAST ; par contre, il n’est en aucun cas permis de les revendre. Toute publication se référant à ces données doit comporter la mention suivante “ces données ont été produites par l’EUCAST, notamment lors de collaborations avec l’ECDC. Les vues et opinions exprimées sont celles d'EUCAST à un moment donné. Elles sont accessibles librement et gratuitement grâce au  site de l’EUCAST www.eucast.org. Les recommandations de l’EUCAST sont fréquemment mises à jour et les dernières versions sont accessibles sur www.eucast.org."