Emergence of Escherichia coli ST131 carrying carbapenemase genes, European Union/European Economic Area, August 2012 to May 2024
Anke Kohlenberg, Olov Svartström, Petra Apfalter, Rainer Hartl, Pierre Bogaerts, Te‐Din Huang, Kateřina Chudějová, Lucia Mališová, Jessica Eisfeld, Mirco Sandfort, Anette M. Hammerum, Louise Roer, Kati Räisänen, Laurent Dortet, Rémy A. Bonnin, Ákos Tóth, Kinga Tóth, Ciaran Clarke, Martin Cormican, Algirdas Griškevičius, Kirstin Khonyongwa, Marie Meo, Baiba Niedre-Otomere, Reinis Vangravs, Antoni P. A. Hendrickx, Daan W. Notermans, Ørjan Samuelsen, Manuela Caniça, Vera Manageiro, Vilhelm Müller, Barbro Mäkitalo, Urška Kramar, Mateja Pirš, Daniel Palm, Dominique L. Monnet, Erik Alm, Marius Linkevičius
Abstract
Analysis of 594 isolates of Escherichia coli sequence type (ST)131 and its single locus variants carrying carbapenemase genes from 17 European Union/European Economic Area countries revealed acquisition of 18 carbapenemase variants, mainly in ST131 clades A and C. Most frequent were bla OXA-244 (n = 230) and bla OXA-48 (n = 224), detected in 14 and 12 countries, respectively. Isolates carrying bla OXA-244 have increased rapidly since 2021. The increasing detection of carbapenemase genes in the E. coli high-risk lineage ST131 is a public health concern.