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Background The beta-lactamase enzyme OXA-48 has spread widely in recent years in Enterobacteriaceae associated with man, disseminated primarily on incompatibility group L/M plasmids. OXA-48 confers resistance to carbapenems, important antimicrobials for treating highly resistant bacterial infections in humans. This enzyme has rarely been detected in bacteria from animals. Furthermore, the use of carbapenem compounds is not permitted in food-producing animals in Europe and to our knowledge has not been reported in food-producing animals globally. Methods Bacterial isolates from lesions in stranded, free-living, juvenile common seals (Phoca vitulina) were identified. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing and whole genome sequencing analysis were used to characterise antimicrobial resistance genes carried by the bacteria. Results Here, we report the detection of Klebsiella pneumoniae subspecies pneumoniae carrying the blaOXA-48 gene on an incompatibility group L/M plasmid from an infection in a common seal. Conclusion Evidence is accruing that marine mammals may be infected with bacteria originating from anthropogenic sources, such as human sewage, contaminating the environment.

We report on the detection of a strain of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria with zoonotic potential identified in the UK for the first time. Livestock-associated meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA), clonal complex (CC) 398 is predominantly asymptomatic in livestock, with infrequent reports of opportunistic infections in farm workers.1 LA-MRSA CC398, spa type t899, was detected from UK animals, harbouring prophage φSa3-immune evasion cluster (IEC) genes, sak , scn and chp , markers for human adaptation, which have been absent from previously reported UK CC398 animal strains. 2, 3 In 2016, …

KLEBSIELLA pneumoniae subspecies pneumoniae (Kpp) was isolated from three, free-living, juvenile common seals ( Phoca vitulina ) found, independently, in ill-health or abandoned ashore on the east coast of England. The seals were hospitalised at two rehabilitation centres. Postmortem examinations revealed lesions of neck abscessation, pleurisy and pyothorax in one seal, and omphalitis and peritonitis in a second seal. The third seal had a ruptured optic globe but survived (and was eventually released). Kpp was recovered from lesion swabs by culture on blood agar under standard aerobic conditions and further characterisation of isolates was by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Sequence type (ST)398 was identified in one seal and ST11 in two seals. All three Kpp isolates showed multiple antibiotic resistance in broth microdilution susceptibility tests. ST11 represents an epidemic clone of Kpp which is found worldwide in man, often with extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) or, more recently, carbapenemase resistance. The resistance patterns and molecular typing of the Kpp isolates suggest that microbial marine pollution of human origin, possibly from human sewage, may have been the source of these infections in juvenile seals. Klebsiella species are members of the family Enterobacteriaceae and are ubiquitous in the environment, occurring in surface water, sewage and soil, as well as being found as commensals of the nasopharynx and intestine of human beings and other animals (Podschun and Ullmann 1998). Klebsiella pneumoniae is a common human nosocomial pathogen causing urinary, respiratory or generalised infections. The gastrointestinal tract of patients is considered one of the main reservoirs of the organism in cases of human infection (Podschun and Ullmann 1998). Klebsiella pneumoniae in human healthcare settings has developed increasing resistance to …