An extensively drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolate from Myanmar

Thanda Tun; Sakiusa Cabe Baleivanualala; Mareike Britta Erdmann; Gregory Gimenez; Htin Lin Aung

doi:10.1016/j.jgar.2023.11.004

An extensively drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolate from Myanmar

J Glob Antimicrob Resist. 2024 Mar:36:1-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jgar.2023.11.004. Epub 2023 Nov 20.

Authors

Thanda Tun¹, Sakiusa Cabe Baleivanualala², Mareike Britta Erdmann², Gregory Gimenez³, Htin Lin Aung⁴

Affiliations

¹ Yangon Central Women's Hospital, Yangon, Myanmar; West Yangon General Hospital, Yangon, Myanmar.
² Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
³ Department of Pathology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
⁴ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Electronic address: htin.aung@otago.ac.nz.

PMID: 37992964
DOI: 10.1016/j.jgar.2023.11.004

Abstract

Objectives: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) including multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa has emerged as one of the serious public health threats across the globe. Southeast Asia is a 'hot spot' of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, including MDR P. aeruginosa. Despite Myanmar being located in Southeast Asia and suffering from a high infectious disease burden, data on MDR and XDR P. aeruginosa from Myanmar are limited. In this communication, we report the draft genome of an XDR P. aeruginosa isolate, MMXDRPA001, that was identified during a routine diagnosis in Myanmar.

Methods: An MMXDRPA001 isolate colonising a hospitalised patient was characterised by antibiotic resistance profiling following standard methods and whole-genome sequencing using an Illumina MiSeq platform. The generated reads were de novo assembled using SPAdes (v.3.9.1). Annotation was performed by Prokka (v.1.14.0). Sequence type, antimicrobial resistance and virulence-related genes were predicted from the sequence. The phylogenetic relationships of all P. aeruginosa isolates were determined using core genome single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) analysis utilising Snippy (v.4.6.0) and Gubbins (v.2.3.4).

Results: P. aeruginosa MMXDRPA001 was resistant to most antipseudomonal β-lactams, aminoglycosides and quinolones. The assembly comprised 145 contigs totalling 6 808 493 bases of sequence and a total of 6183 coding sequences. The isolate belonged to sequence type (ST) 235, contained carbapenemase-encoding gene bla_IMP-1 and was clonally related to a previously reported isolate from Thailand.

Conclusion: The identification of an international high-risk clone of ST235 XDR isolate in Myanmar, genomically relating to that from a neighbouring country underscores the need for coordinated AMR surveillance throughout healthcare settings in Myanmar and in the Southeast Asia region.

Keywords: Carbapenems; IMP metallo-β-lactamase; P. aeruginosa.

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / genetics
Humans
Myanmar
Phylogeny
Pseudomonas Infections* / microbiology
Pseudomonas aeruginosa*

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents