Detecting, mapping, and suppressing the spread of a decade-long <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> nosocomial outbreak with genomics.

ABSTRACT: Whole-genome sequencing is revolutionizing bacterial outbreak investigation, but its application to the clinic remains limited. In 2020, prospective and retrospective surveillance detected a Pseudomonas aeruginosa outbreak with 253 isolates collected from 82 patients in 26 wards of a hospital. Its origin was dated to the late 1990s, just after the facility opened, and patient-to-patient and environment-to-patient cases of transmission were inferred. Over time, two epidemic subclones evolved in separate hosts and hospital areas, including newly opened wards, and hospital-wide sampling confirmed reservoirs persisted in the plumbing. Pathoadaptive mutations in genes associated with virulence, cell wall biogenesis, and antibiotic resistance were identified. While the latter correlated w

SUBMITTER: Stribling W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12571482 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature