U.S. flag An official website of the United States government.
Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

i

603. Identification of a Carbapenemase-Producing, Extensively Drug-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolate Carrying a blaNDM-1-Bearing, Hypervirulent Plasmid, United States 2017

Supporting Files Public Domain


Details

  • Alternative Title:
    Open Forum Infect Dis
  • Personal Author:
  • Description:
    Background

    The recent discovery of carbapenemase-producing hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (CP-HvKP) has signaled the convergence of multidrug resistance and pathogenicity, with the potential for increased mortality. While previous studies of CP-HvKP isolates revealed that most carried carbapenemase genes and hypervirulence elements on separate plasmids, a 2018 report from China confirmed that both could be harbored on a single, hybrid carbapenemase-hypervirulent plasmid. As part of a project sequencing isolates carrying multiple carbapenemase genes identified through CDC’s Antibiotic Resistance Laboratory Network (AR Lab Network), we discovered a blaNDM-1-bearing hypervirulent plasmid found in a KPC- and NDM-positive K. pneumoniae from the United States.

    Methods

    Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) was performed by reference broth microdilution against 23 agents. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was performed on Illumina MiSeq and PacBio RS II platforms.

    Results

    AST results indicated the isolate was extensively drug-resistant, as it was non-susceptible to at least one agent in all but two drug classes; it was susceptible to only tigecycline and tetracycline. Analysis of WGS data showed the isolate was ST11, the same sequence type that caused a fatal outbreak of CP-HvKP in China in 2016. The genome included two plasmids. The smaller one (129kbp) carried seven antibiotic resistance (AR) genes, including the carbapenemase gene blaKPC-2. The larger plasmid (354kbp) harbored 11 AR genes, including the metallo-β-lactamase gene blaNDM-1, as well as virulence factors iucABCD/iutA, peg-344, rmpA, and rmpA2, which comprise four of the five genes previously identified as predictors of hypervirulence in K. pneumoniae.

    Conclusion

    This is the first report of a hybrid carbapenemase-hypervirulent plasmid in the United States. The presence of both blaNDM-1 and hypervirulence elements on the same plasmid suggests that the CP-Hv pathotype could spread rapidly through horizontal transfer. This discovery demonstrates the critical role of genomic characterization of emerging resistance and virulence phenotypes by the AR Lab Network as part of US containment efforts.

    Disclosures

    All authors: No reported disclosures.

  • Subjects:
  • Source:
    Open Forum Infect Dis. 2019; 6(Suppl 2):S282-S283
  • Pubmed Central ID:
    PMC6810911
  • Document Type:
  • Volume:
    6
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha256:4dadc8a302cbc4d394d938bf72b18d21ed4106d067e7bb5279236d0a462d827d
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 154.99 KB ]
ON THIS PAGE

CDC STACKS serves as an archival repository of CDC-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other public health information authored or co-authored by CDC or funded partners.

As a repository, CDC STACKS retains documents in their original published format to ensure public access to scientific information.