Escherichia coli ST471 Producing VIM-4 Metallo-β-Lactamase in Colombia

An Escherichia coli isolate sequence-type 471 (ST471) producing Verona integron-encoded metallo-β-lactamases (VIM)-4 was recovered from a rectal swab in a patient without travel records with osteomyelitis in Colombia. The isolate carried a class 1 integron-borne bla_VIM-4 gene with a 170-bp duplication in the 3' end of the gene, preceded by an aac(6')-Ib gene. The genetic environment of bla_VIM-4, bla_CMY-2, and sul2 genes showed similarities to the backbone of pKKp4, an IncA/C-type plasmid from a Klebsiella pneumoniae strain carrying bla_VIM-4 recovered in Kuwait. This is the first report of bla_VIM-4 in Enterobacterales in South America. Our results suggest that bla_VIM-4 gene was found on an IncA/C-type plasmid that could play a role in the spread of VIM-4 carbapenemase in Colombia.