The objective of this study was to characterise blaNDM-5-harbouring multidrug resistant (MDR) Escherichia coli isolates recovered from cattle and pork meat in Hungary from 2021. Three MDR blaNDM-5-positive E. coli isolates were recovered from cattle and pork meat in Hungary. The isolates were sequenced by Oxford Nanopore long-read and Illumina short-read sequencing and bioinformatically analysed by in silico typing. The blaNDM-5–carrying plasmids were fully reconstructed and the blaNDM-5 genetic context characterised. The three E. coli isolates belonged to ST405, serotype O102:H6 and had maximum two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within their common genomic regions. The MDR phenotype to all β-lactams including carbapenems, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, ciprofloxacin, tetracycline and azithromycin was conferred by blaTEM-1B, blaCTX-M-1, blaNDM-5, sul1, dfrA12, qepA4, tet(B) and mph(A), respectively. All AMR genes were located on identical IncFIB-IncFII plasmids with an average size of 132 009 bp. The plasmids had two accessory regions, including a ~24 kb MDR region consisting of blaNDM-5 module, a class 1 integron carrying a qepA4, drfA12, aadA2 and sul1, and a mph(A) module. The IncFIB-IncFII plasmids were most closely related to an E. coli AR-452 ∼128.8 kb plasmid isolated in USA, which lacked the blaCTX-M-15 and its associated ISEcp1 only.
In conclusion, we described three carbapenemase-producing E. coli ST405 strains isolated from meat and the complete sequence of the IncFIB-IncFII plasmids harbouring the blaNDM-5 gene. It is of great concern to see carbapenemases enter the area of food producing animals.
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