Emergence of oxacillinase-181 carbapenemase-producing diarrheagenic Escherichia coli in Ghana

Isaac Prah; Alafate Ayibieke; Samiratu Mahazu; Chihiro Tani Sassa; Takaya Hayashi; Shoji Yamaoka; Toshihiko Suzuki; Shiroh Iwanaga; Anthony Ablordey; Ryoichi Saito

doi:10.1080/22221751.2021.1920342

Emergence of oxacillinase-181 carbapenemase-producing diarrheagenic Escherichia coli in Ghana

Emerg Microbes Infect. 2021 Dec;10(1):865-873. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2021.1920342.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Molecular Microbiology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU), Tokyo, Japan.
² Department of Molecular Virology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU), Tokyo, Japan.
³ Department of Environmental Parasitology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU), Tokyo, Japan.
⁴ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Medical Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
⁵ Department of Bacterial Pathogenesis, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU), Tokyo, Japan.
⁶ Bacteriology Department, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.

Abstract

The emergence and spread of carbapenemase-producing bacteria are serious threats to public health. We characterized two OXA-181-producing Escherichia coli isolates from pediatric patients with diarrhea from Ghana. bla_OXA-₁₈₁ was localized on the self-conjugative IncX3-containing plasmid in the E. coli ST410 isolate, belonging to an emerging lineage, and an IncFIC(FII)-containing plasmid in E. coli ST940. The bla_OXA-181-qnrS1 region was found on the IS26 composite transposon, which contained a 366-bp deletion in the region encoding the Rep A protein for the IncX3-containing plasmid. The IncFIC(FII) plasmid was novel and integrated with an approximately 39-kb IncX1 plasmid through conjugal transfer. Both plasmids clustered close to plasmids from Switzerland. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing the presence of an IncX3 plasmid containing bla_OXA-181 in strains closely related to the B4/H24RxC clade in Africa, suggesting its emergence and the need to strengthen antimicrobial resistance surveillance.

Keywords: IncFIC(FII) and B4/H24RxC clade; IncX3; ST410; diarrheagenic E. coli; oxacillinase-181.

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology*
Diarrhea / microbiology*
Escherichia coli / classification
Escherichia coli / drug effects*
Escherichia coli / genetics
Escherichia coli / isolation & purification
Escherichia coli Infections / microbiology*
Escherichia coli Proteins / genetics
Ghana
Humans
Microbial Sensitivity Tests
Whole Genome Sequencing
beta-Lactamases / genetics*

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Escherichia coli Proteins
beta-Lactamases
oxacillinase

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED, URL: http://www.amed.go.jp/en/) under Grant Number JP19fm0108010 (SY, TS, SI, RS), 20wm0125007 (SY, TS, SI, RS), 20wm0225004 (TS, RS), 20wm0225013 (TS, RS), and Ohyama Health Foundation (RS). These funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.