Global Molecular Epidemiology of IMP-Producing Enterobacteriaceae

International data on the molecular epidemiology of Enterobacteriaceae with IMP carbapenemases are lacking. We performed short-read (Illumina) whole-genome sequencing on a global collection of 38 IMP-producing clinical Enterobacteriaceae (2008 to 2014). IMP-producing Enterobacteriaceae (7 varieties within 11 class 1 integrons) were mainly present in the South Pacific and Asia. Specific bla_IMP-containing integrons (In809 with bla_IMP-4, In722 with bla_IMP-6, and In687 with bla_IMP-14) were circulating among different bacteria in countries such as Australia, Japan, and Thailand. In1312 with bla_IMP-1 was present in Klebsiella pneumoniae from Japan and Citrobacter freundii from Brazil. Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 22) was the most common species; clonal complex 14 (CC14) from Philippines and Japan was the most common clone and contained In1310 with bla_IMP-26 and In1321 with bla_IMP-6 The Enterobacter cloacae complex (n = 9) consisted of Enterobacter hormaechei and E. cloacae cluster III. CC78 (from Taiwan) containing In73 with bla_IMP-8 was the most common clone among the E. cloacae complex. This study highlights the importance of surveillance programs using the latest molecular techniques for providing insight into the characteristics and global distribution of Enterobacteriaceae with bla_IMP genes.