Detection of IncN‐pST15 one‐health plasmid harbouring <i>bla</i> <sub>KPC‐2</sub> in a hypermucoviscous <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> CG258 isolated from an infected dog, Brazil
Fábio P. Sellera, Bruna Fuga, Herrison Fontana, Fernanda Esposito, Brenda Cardoso, Sibele Konno, Carla Berl, Mariana H. Cappellanes, Marcia Cortez, Marcelo Augusto Kazuo Ikeda, César M. Souza, Louise Cerdeira, Nilton Lincopán
Abstract
The emergence and rapid spread of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales represents a serious public health concern. Critically, these global priority bacteria have begun to be reported in companion animals, implying a potential risk of cross-transmission between humans and pets. Using long-read (MinION) and short-read (Illumina) sequencing technologies, we have identified and characterized a hypermucoviscous KPC-2-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae strain belonging to the high-risk international clone ST11/CG258, in a dog with urinary tract infection. Strikingly, the blaKPC-2 gene was carried by a 54-kb IncN plasmid assignated to ST15, which shared 99.8 and 96.8% pairwise identity with IncN-pST15 plasmids from human and environmental K. pneumoniae strains, respectively; all come from an area with high endemicity of KPC-2. Our findings suggest that IncN-pST15 plasmids conferring carbapenem resistance can play as important a role as clonal transmission of K. pneumoniae, representing another major challenge for One Health.