CDC investigating multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas outbreak in Texas

The City of Lubbock, Tex., Health Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are investigating an outbreak of multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa in multiple healthcare facilities.

To date, 27 cases of Verona integron-encoded metallo-beta-lactamase (VIM)-producing P aeruginosahave been identified since the outbreak was discovered in October. The cases were identified by the CDC’s Antibiotic Resistance Laboratory Network.

“The cases are not associated with a single facility and there is no obvious epidemiologic link,” Katherine Wells, MPH, City of Lubbock director of public health, told CIDRAP News. “We are currently working with CDC to complete PFGE [pulsed-field gel electrophoresis] and WGS [whole-genome sequencing] to look for links. We are also working with acute care hospitals and long-term care facilities to do additional point-prevalence surveys.”

VIM is a mobile resistance mechanism that confers resistance to carbapenems and several other classes of antibiotic and can be transferred between bacterial species. VIM-producing P aeruginosawas first reported in France in 1996 and has been documented in other countries, but it is less common in the United States. The organism can cause severe healthcare-associated infections, is difficult to treat, and is associated with high morbidity and mortality.

Source: CIDRAP