Enterobacter cloacae complex ST-171 Isolates Expressing KPC-4 Carbapenemase Recovered from Canine Patients in Ohio, USA

Abstract

ABSTRACTCarbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) have emerged as a critical public health threat. Organisms expressing the Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC) were first recognized in the US in the late 1990s and continue to be the predominant CRE genotype reported in clinical isolates. Strains harboring blaKPC alleles have been observed in multiple species of Enterobacteriaceae, including the Enterobacter cloacae complex. A major E. cloacae clone, Enterobacter xiangfangensis ST171, has emerged as an important cause of hospital associated infections (HAI) and has been shown to carry different alleles of KPC in the context of Tn4401, residing on plasmids of multiple incompatibility groups. While CRE are commonly isolated from infected humans, their recovery from animals has been rare, particularly from companion animals. In the US, only six CRE have been reported from companion animals, and one from livestock, none of which were blaKPC. This report describes two E. xiangfangensis sequence type ST171 isolates each with a large IncHI2 plasmid bearing blaKPC-4 recovered from dogs with infections at the Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center. Our phylogenetic comparison of these canine isolates with available sequences from clinical human isolates of KPC-4 identified in ST171 suggest an epidemiologically significant clonal strain.