High diversity of plasmids harbouring blaCMY-2 among clinical Escherichia coli isolates from humans and companion animals in the upper Midwestern USA

Abstract

This study is one of the first One Health attempts to compare plasmids encoding CMY-2 β-lactamase among clinical isolates from humans and companion animals in the same region. The results indicate an unforeseen heterogeneity of plasmid backgrounds and suggest limited exchange between the two populations, in which blaCMY-2 occurred at very different frequencies and was harboured by distinct plasmid types.