Occurrence of Carbapenemase-Producing <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> in Bat Guano

Abstract

The aim of this study was to screen for the presence of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) isolates from bat guano in Bejaia, Algeria. Guano samples ( n = 110) were collected in Aokas's cave, Bejaia, Algeria, between March and May 2016. Samples were plated on MacConkey agar supplemented with ertapenem (0.5 mg/L) and vancomycin (32 mg/L). The isolates were identified and antimicrobial susceptibility was determined using disk diffusion method. Carbapenemase, extended spectrum β-lactamases, plasmid-mediated AmpC, and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes were studied using PCR and sequencing. Clonal relatedness was studied using multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Two CPE isolates were identified as Klebsiella pneumoniae . PCR and sequencing identified the bla OXA-48 in one K. pneumoniae strain (CS34) and bla KPC-3 in the other strain (CS63). K. pneumoniae CS63 was found to carry bla TEM-1 and aac(6′)-Ib genes. The MLST showed that K. pneumoniae CS63 was assigned to ST512, whereas K. pneumoniae CS34 belonged to ST1878. This is the first description of CPE from bats' guano.