Dissemination of High-Risk Clones of Extensively Drug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Colombia

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe ability ofPseudomonas aeruginosato develop resistance to most antimicrobials represents an important clinical threat worldwide. We report the dissemination in several Colombian hospitals of two predominant lineages of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) carbapenemase-producingP. aeruginosastrains. These lineages belong to the high-risk clones sequence type 111 (ST111) and ST235 and harborblaVIM-2on a class 1 integron andblaKPC-2on a Tn4401transposon, respectively. Additionally,P. aeruginosaST1492, a novel single-locus variant of ST111, was identified. Clonal dissemination and the presence of mobile genetic elements likely explain the successful spread of XDRP. aeruginosastrains in Colombia.