Genomic Investigation of Two Acinetobacter baumannii Outbreaks in a Veterinary Intensive Care Unit in The Netherlands

Soe Yu Naing; Joost Hordijk; Birgitta Duim; Els Broens; Linda van der Graaf - van Bloois; John W A Rossen; Joris Robben; Masja  Leendertse; Jaap Wagenaar; Aldert Zomer

doi:10.3390/pathogens11020123

Genomic Investigation of Two Acinetobacter baumannii Outbreaks in a Veterinary Intensive Care Unit in The Netherlands

Soe Yu Naing, Joost Hordijk, Birgitta Duim, Els Broens, Linda van der Graaf - van Bloois, John W A Rossen, Joris Robben, Masja Leendertse, Jaap Wagenaar, Aldert Zomer^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

University of Groningen

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Acinetobacter baumannii is a nosocomial pathogen that frequently causes healthcare-acquired infections. The global spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains with its ability to survive in the environment for extended periods imposes a pressing public health threat. Two MDR A. baumannii outbreaks occurred in 2012 and 2014 in a companion animal intensive care unit (caICU) in the Netherlands. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was performed on dog clinical isolates (n = 6), environmental isolates (n = 5), and human reference strains (n = 3) to investigate if the isolates of the two outbreaks were related. All clinical isolates shared identical resistance phenotypes displaying multidrug resistance. Multi-locus Sequence Typing (MLST) revealed that all clinical isolates belonged to sequence type ST2. The core genome MLST (cgMLST) results confirmed that the isolates of the two outbreaks were not related. Comparative genome analysis showed that the outbreak isolates contained different gene contents, including mobile genetic elements associated with antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs). The time-measured phylogenetic reconstruction revealed that the outbreak isolates diverged approximately 30 years before 2014. Our study shows the importance of WGS analyses combined with molecular clock investigations to reduce transmission of MDR A. baumannii infections in companion animal clinics.

Original language	English
Article number	123
Pages (from-to)	1-14
Journal	Pathogens
Volume	11
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens11020123
Publication status	Published - Feb 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We would like to thank Lenie Dijkshoorn for her advice and providing reference strains EC-I, EC-II, and EC-III. We would also like to thank the technicians from the Veterinary Microbiological Diagnostic Centre at the faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, for their assistance.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

Acinetobacter baumannii
Antimicrobial resistance
Veterinary medicine
Whole-genome sequencing

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.3390/pathogens11020123Licence: CC BY

pathogens-11-00123-v3Final published version, 1.39 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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abstract = "Acinetobacter baumannii is a nosocomial pathogen that frequently causes healthcare-acquired infections. The global spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains with its ability to survive in the environment for extended periods imposes a pressing public health threat. Two MDR A. baumannii outbreaks occurred in 2012 and 2014 in a companion animal intensive care unit (caICU) in the Netherlands. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was performed on dog clinical isolates (n = 6), environmental isolates (n = 5), and human reference strains (n = 3) to investigate if the isolates of the two outbreaks were related. All clinical isolates shared identical resistance phenotypes displaying multidrug resistance. Multi-locus Sequence Typing (MLST) revealed that all clinical isolates belonged to sequence type ST2. The core genome MLST (cgMLST) results confirmed that the isolates of the two outbreaks were not related. Comparative genome analysis showed that the outbreak isolates contained different gene contents, including mobile genetic elements associated with antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs). The time-measured phylogenetic reconstruction revealed that the outbreak isolates diverged approximately 30 years before 2014. Our study shows the importance of WGS analyses combined with molecular clock investigations to reduce transmission of MDR A. baumannii infections in companion animal clinics.",

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Genomic Investigation of Two Acinetobacter baumannii Outbreaks in a Veterinary Intensive Care Unit in The Netherlands

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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