Carbapenemase IncF-borne bla gene in the E. coli ST167 high-risk clone from canine clinical infection, Italy.

The blaNDM-5-producing E. coli Sequence Type (ST)167 high-risk clone is emerging worldwide in human clinical cases, while its presence in companion animals is sporadic and has never been described in Italy. Using a combined Oxford Nanopore (ONT) long-reads and Illumina short-reads sequencing approach, an E. coli ST167 isolated from a hospitalized dog, was in-depth characterized by WGS and the plasmid containing bla was fully reconstructed. The complete sequence of the pMOL008 mosaic plasmid (F36:F31:A4:B1; pMOL008) harbouring bla, was resolved and characterized. Moreover, a (pro)phage and IncFII, containing bla and ermB, and IncI2 plasmid types were also identified. pMOL008 was almost identical to bla-containing plasmids from E. coli ST167 isolated from Italian human clinical cases and from a Swiss dog and colonized humans. bla was located in a class 1 integron together with aadA2, aac(3)-IIa, mph(A), sul1, tet(A) and dfrA12. The risk of spill-over and spill-back transmission of carbapenem-resistance genes, related plasmids and strains between humans and dogs, represents a Public Health threat and highlights the importance of the One Health approach for the AMR surveillance.