Outbreak of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) Shigella flexneri in northern Australia due to an endemic regional clone acquiring an IncFII plasmid.

ABSTRACT: Epidemiological surveillance of Shigella spp. in Australia is conducted to inform public health response. Multi-drug resistance has recently emerged as a contributing factor to sustained local transmission of Shigella spp. All data were collected as part of routine public health surveillance, and strains were whole-genome sequenced for further molecular characterisation. 108 patients with an endemic regional Shigella flexneri strain were identified between 2016 and 2019. The S. flexneri phylogroup 3 strain endemic to northern Australia acquired a multi-drug resistance conferring bla_DHA plasmid, which has an IncFII plasmid backbone with virulence and resistance elements typically found in IncR plasmids. This is the first report of multi-drug resistance in Shigella sp. in Australi

SUBMITTER: Guglielmino CJD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7473701 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature