Emergence of Citrobacter freundii carrying IMP-8 metallo-β-lactamase in Germany

Abstract

Metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) in Enterobacteriaceae are an increasing problem worldwide. This report describes the isolation of Citrobacter freundii carrying IMP-8 MBL from three patients during the period from March 2012 until March 2013 in Germany. The blaIMP-8 enzyme is predominantly found in Asia, where IMP-8 has spread to various enterobacterial species causing serious infections. To our best knowledge, this is the first report of blaIMP-8 habouring Enterobacteriaceae in Europe.

Keywords

• Antimicrobial resistance
• IMP
• infection control
• laboratory surveillance
• metallo-β-lactamases
• multidrug resistance