Acquisition of Enterobacterales carrying the colistin resistance gene mcr following travel to the tropics

Background: Colistin is an antibiotic of last resort in the management of highly drug-resistant Enterobacterales infections. Travel to some destinations presents a high risk of acquiring multidrug-resistant Enterobacterales, but little data are available on the risk of acquiring colistin-resistant strains. Here, we use the VOYAG-R sample collection (2012-2013) in order to evaluate the rate of acquisition of colistin-resistant Enterobacterales, excluding species with intrinsic resistance (CRE), following travel to tropical regions.

Methods: A total of 574 frozen stool samples of travellers returning from tropical regions were screened for colistin-resistant strains using ChromID Colistin R agar (bioMerieux®) after pre-enrichment culture with 1 mg/L of colistin. Genomes were obtained by Illumina sequencing and genetic determinants of colistin resistance (mutational events and mcr genes) were searched.

Results: A total of 22 travellers (3.8%) acquired colistin-resistant Enterobacterales carrying an mcr gene. Acquisition rates varied between visited regions: 9.2% (18/195) for Asia (southeast Asia: 17/18), 2.2% (4/184) for Latin America (Peru: 4/4) and 0% from Africa (0/195). Acquired strains were predominantly Escherichia coli (92%) and carried mostly the mcr-1 variant (83%). Escherichia coli strains belonged mainly to commensal phylogroups A and B1, and were genetically highly diverse (5 non-clonal sequence type (ST)10 and 17 ST singletons). Only four non mcr colistin-resistant strains (two E. coli and two Enterobacter cloacae complex) were identified. Among all the strains, two also carried extended-spectrum beta-lactamase genes.

Conclusions: Travel to tropical regions, and particularly to Southeast Asia, is a risk factor for the acquisition of mcr-carrying Enterobacterales. This study highlights the community dissemination of mcr in humans as early as 2012, 4 years prior to its first published description.