Intercontinental spread from Israel to Colombia of a KPC-3-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae strain

In 2008, an increase in the prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae was noted in a 286-bed tertiary case hospital in Colombia, where 84 patients (32 infected and 52 colonized) had positive cultures. The identified index patient came from Israel for a liver transplantation. High level carbapenem resistance was observed. Polymyxin B and tigecycline were the only two antibiotics that remained active. PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and sequencing revealed bla_KPC-3 in the major clone, which was indistinguishable from the K. pneumoniae carbapenemase-3-producing clone described previously in Israel. This exemplifies the threat posed by the global spread of K. pneumoniae carbapenemase-producing pathogens.