Description of OXA-244 carbapenemase-producing Escherichia coli in farm animals in The Netherlands, 2024

To minimize the risk of livestock becoming a reservoir of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE), it is prohibited to use carbapenems in food-producing animals in Europe. Nonetheless, CPE have been detected in several EU countries in pigs, poultry and cattle.

To detect and characterize CPE from farm animals in the Netherlands obtained within the European monitoring programme for antimicrobial resistance in animals and food.

Caecal samples from livestock animals are screened for the presence of CPE according to the recommended EURL-AR protocol and supplementary molecular screening. WGS was used to further study the isolates and compare with human-derived CPE.

In 2024, two CPE isolates were detected in caecal samples from a pig and a broiler. Both were Escherichia coli producing OXA-244 and showed reduced susceptibility to meropenem, imipenem and ertapenem. WGS confirmed the presence of blaOXA-244 gene on a chromosomally located IS-element. Although both isolates belonged to ST58 and were genetically similar, neither represented a clonal relationship with each other, nor with human-associated OXA-244-producing E. coli from national CPE surveillance. Follow-up investigations on both farms did not reveal additional CPE.

The finding of two OXA-244-producing E. coli isolates in livestock caecal samples demonstrates the added value of implementing a more sensitive screening method for detection of CPE with low-level resistance to carbapenems in the European AMR monitoring programme for animals and food.