KPC-2-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from wild animals in Brazil

Pseudomonas aeruginosa an opportunistic pathogen that causes infections in hospitals and has high morbidity and mortality rates. In addition, it is a widely distributed environmental bacterium that can colonise a variety of habitats. Although wild animals do not have access to antibiotics, antibacterial resistance in these animals has increasingly been reported worldwide. Although the presence of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC) is uncommon in P. aeruginosa, it has been increasingly reported. This study examined KPC-2-producing P. aeruginosa in wild animals. A total of 27 P. aeruginosa isolates were obtained from clinical cases treated at the Microbiology Laboratory of the Veterinary Hospital of UFMT, Brazil. P. aeruginosa and blaKPC-2 carbapenemase resistance genes were identified using PCR. Antimicrobial susceptibility of KPC-producing P. aeruginosa was evaluated using the disk diffusion method. The blaKPC-2 gene was detected in 40.7% of the isolates (11/27). The rates of antimicrobial resistance and intermediate sensitivity were as follows: piperacillin/tazobactam (44.4%), imipenem (29.6%), meropenem (51.8%), amikacin (77.8%), cefepime (85.2%), and ciprofloxacin (70.4%). Twelve isolates were classified as Multidrug-resistant (MDR). This study presents the first report of P. aeruginosa with the blaKPC-2 gene in wild animals in Brazil, highlighting the importance of molecular research on resistance genes in P. aeruginosa from a One-Health perspective.