Limited transmission of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae between animals and humans: a study in Qingdao

• Published in: Emerging microbes & infections 2024-12, Vol.13 (1), p.2387446
• Main Authors: Bai, Rina, Wang, Xiao, Zou, Zhiyu, Zhou, Wenjing, Tan, Chang, Cao, Yue, Fu, Bo, Zhai, Weishuai, Hu, Fupin, Wang, Yang, Wu, Congming, Zhu, Yuanqi, Sun, Chengtao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Animals; Animals, Domestic - microbiology; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae - drug effects; Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae - genetics; Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae - isolation & purification; Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae; Carbapenems - pharmacology; Chickens - microbiology; China - epidemiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; farm animals; Female; human clinical; Humans; Klebsiella Infections - epidemiology; Klebsiella Infections - microbiology; Klebsiella Infections - transmission; Klebsiella Infections - veterinary; Klebsiella pneumoniae - drug effects; Klebsiella pneumoniae - genetics; Klebsiella pneumoniae - isolation & purification; Male; Meat - microbiology; Meat products; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Middle Aged; Multilocus Sequence Typing; Phylogeny; Plasmids - genetics; Swine; transmission
• ISSN: 2222-1751; 2222-1751
• DOI: 10.1080/22221751.2024.2387446

Despite no carbapenem use in food animals, carbapenem-resistant (CRKP) perseveres within food animals, rising significant concerns regarding public health risks originating from these non-clinical reservoirs. To investigate the potential link between CRKP in food animals and its infections in humans, we conducted a cross-sectional study encompassing human clinical, meat products, and farm animals, in Qingdao city, Shandong province, China. We observed a relatively higher presence of CRKP among hospital inpatients (7.3%) compared to that in the meat products (2.7%) and farm animals (pig, 4.6%; chicken, 0.63%). Multilocus sequence typing and core-genome phylogenetic analyses confirm there is no evidence of farm animals and meat products in the clinical acquisition of isolates and carbapenem-resistant genes. However, potential transmission of of ST659 and IncX3 plasmid harbouring gene from pigs to pork and farm workers was observed. Our findings suggest a limited role of farm animals and meat products in the human clinical acquisition of , and the transmission of is more common within settings, than between them.