WHO updates list of drug-resistant bacteria most threatening to human health

Published on May 17, 2024

The World Health Organization (WHO) today released its updated Bacterial Priority Pathogens List (BPPL) 2024, featuring 15 families of antibiotic-resistant bacteria grouped into critical, high and medium categories for prioritization. The list provides guidance on the development of new and necessary treatments to stop the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

The list is available in six languages. The WHO BPPL 2024 includes the following bacteria:

Critical priority:

  • Acinetobacter baumannii, carbapenem-resistant;
  • Enterobacterales, third-generation cephalosporin-resistant; and 
  • Enterobacterales, carbapenem-resistant;
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis, rifampicin-resistant (included after an independent analysis with parallel tailored criteria, and subsequent application of an adapted multi-criteria decision analysis matrix).   

High priority:

  • Salmonella Typhi, fluoroquinolone-resistant
  • Shigella spp., fluoroquinolone-resistant
  • Enterococcus faecium, vancomycin-resistant
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa, carbapenem-resistant
  • Non-typhoidal Salmonella, fluoroquinolone-resistant
  • Neisseria gonorrhoeae, third-generation cephalosporin- and/or fluoroquinolone-resistant
  • Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant

Medium priority: 

  • Group A streptococci, macrolide-resistant
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae, macrolide-resistant
  • Haemophilus influenzae, ampicillin-resistant
  • Group B streptococci, penicillin-resistant

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