Novel blaKPC-carrying species identified in the hospital environment

Abstract

blaKPC, encoding one of five dominant global carbapenemase families, is increasingly identified in environmental species difficult to characterize using routine diagnostic methods, with epidemiological and clinical implications. During environmental hospital infection prevention and control investigations (Manchester, UK) we used whole genome sequencing to confirm species identification for isolates infrequently associated with blaKPC and/or difficult to classify by MALDI-ToF. Four previously undescribed blaKPC-carrying species were identified from the hospital environment, including a putative, novel Enterobacter species.