Detection of carbapenemase producing Acinetobacter baumannii ST19 from Georgia and Ukraine carrying blaOXA-23, blaOXA-72, and/or blaNDM-5, December 2019 to June 2023

Abstract

In 2003−2023, amid 5,436 Acinetobacter baumannii isolates collected globally through the Multidrug-Resistant Organism Repository and Surveillance Network, 97 were ST19 PAS , 34 of which carbapenem-resistant. Strains (n = 32) sampled after 2019 harboured either bla OXA-23 , bla OXA-72 , and/or bla NDM-5 . Phylogenetic analysis of the 97 isolates and 11 publicly available ST19 genomes revealed three sub-lineages of carbapenemase-producing isolates from mainly Ukraine and Georgia, including an epidemic clone carrying all three carbapenemase genes. Infection control and global surveillance of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii remain important.