A Long-Term Low-Frequency Hospital Outbreak of KPC-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae Involving Intergenus Plasmid Diffusion and a Persisting Environmental Reservoir

Abstract

We document a clonal transmission of the K. pneumoniae ST258 strain, and an intergenus plasmid diffusion of the IncFII plasmid carrying bla KPC-2 in this outbreak. A major reservoir in the patient population could not be unveiled. However, the identification of a persisting environmental reservoir of strains with molecular determinants linked to human isolates, suggests a possible role of the environment in the maintenance of this long-term outbreak.