Lack of antimicrobial resistance in Yersinia pestis isolates from 17 countries in the Americas, Africa, and Asia

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2012 Jan;56(1):555-8. doi: 10.1128/AAC.05043-11. Epub 2011 Oct 24.

Abstract

Yersinia pestis is the causative agent of plague, a fulminant disease that is often fatal without antimicrobial treatment. Plasmid (IncA/C)-mediated multidrug resistance in Y. pestis was reported in 1995 in Madagascar and has generated considerable public health concern, most recently because of the identification of IncA/C multidrug-resistant plasmids in other zoonotic pathogens. Here, we demonstrate no resistance in 392 Y. pestis isolates from 17 countries to eight antimicrobials used for treatment or prophylaxis of plague.

MeSH terms

  • Africa
  • Americas
  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Asia
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial
  • Humans
  • Madagaskar
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Phylogeography
  • Plague / drug therapy*
  • Plague / microbiology
  • Plague / transmission
  • Plasmids / genetics
  • Public Health
  • Siphonaptera
  • Yersinia pestis / genetics*
  • Yersinia pestis / isolation & purification

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents