Nature Communications (Mar 2024)

Characterisation of colistin resistance in Gram-negative microbiota of pregnant women and neonates in Nigeria

  • E. A. R. Portal,
  • K. Sands,
  • C. Farley,
  • I. Boostrom,
  • E. Jones,
  • M. Barrell,
  • M. J. Carvalho,
  • R. Milton,
  • K. Iregbu,
  • F. Modibbo,
  • S. Uwaezuoke,
  • C. Akpulu,
  • L. Audu,
  • C. Edwin,
  • A. H. Yusuf,
  • A. Adeleye,
  • A. S. Mukkadas,
  • D. Maduekwe,
  • S. Gambo,
  • J. Sani,
  • T. R. Walsh,
  • O. B. Spiller

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45673-6
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 1
pp. 1 – 15

Abstract

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Abstract A mobile colistin resistance gene mcr was first reported in 2016 in China and has since been found with increasing prevalence across South-East Asia. Here we survey the presence of mcr genes in 4907 rectal swabs from mothers and neonates from three hospital sites across Nigeria; a country with limited availability or history of colistin use clinically. Forty mother and seven neonatal swabs carried mcr genes in a range of bacterial species: 46 Enterobacter spp. and single isolates of; Shigella, E. coli and Klebsiella quasipneumoniae. Ninety percent of the genes were mcr-10 (n = 45) we also found mcr-1 (n = 3) and mcr-9 (n = 1). While the prevalence during this collection (2015-2016) was low, the widespread diversity of mcr-gene type and range of bacterial species in this sentinel population sampling is concerning. It suggests that agricultural colistin use was likely encouraging sustainment of mcr-positive isolates in the community and implementation of medical colistin use will rapidly select and expand resistant isolates.