Veterinary hospital environments contain carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales with clonal spread between facilities (Philadelphia, PA, 2022–2023)
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Objective: To investigate the patterns of environmental contamination by carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) at veterinary hospitals in or around Philadelphia, PA, and to determine genetic relatedness between isolates. Methods: Between September 2022 and August 2023, participating hospitals (n = 15) completed a survey regarding demographic data, antimicrobial stewardship efforts and prescribing practices, and infection prevention practices. Samples were collected from a variety of environmental surfaces (n = 311) at each hospital and then enriched and cultured on selective agar to screen for CPE. Confirmed CPE isolates were whole genome sequenced. Results: Of the 15 hospitals that participated in the study, 6 hospitals (40%) had CPE isolated from at least 1 site. All CPE harbored the blaNDM-7 carbapenemase gene. Of the 24 confirmed CPE isolates, 21 isolates (79%) belonged to a clonal cluster of Enterobacter hormaechei subsp xiangfangensis (single nucleotide polymorphism cluster PDS000141048 on National Center for Biotechnology Information Pathogen Detection). The PDS000141048 cluster was represented at 5 of the 6 hospitals from which CPE was isolated. Additionally, the PDS000141048 cluster included previously uploaded isolates from a biosecurity screening program at 1 of the hospitals in the study, as well as isolates from clinical specimens from outside of the Philadelphia area. Conclusions: These data suggest that CPE can be common in the veterinary hospital environment. We also detected the presence of a network of transmission of carbapenemase-producing E hormaechei among veterinary hospitals in the greater Philadelphia region. Clinical Relevance: This finding highlights the importance of environmental infection prevention measures in companion animal veterinary medicine and the need for collaboration across veterinary facilities to prevent the spread of CPE.
Institutions: University of Pennsylvania, Minnesota Department of Health
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Medicine
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4408940461