Rapid spread of a novel NDM-producing clone of Klebsiella pneumoniae CC147, Northern Italy, February to August 2023

New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM)producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kp) ST147 caused a large multi-hospital outbreak in Italy from 2018 to 2021. We describe a new ST6668 NDM-producing Kp clone, belonging to CC147, which rapidly spread across hospitals in the Pavia province (Northern Italy) from February to August 2023. Genomic analyses revealed that ST6668 is different from ST147 and fast evolving. As shown here, genomic surveillance programmes are useful for tracking the spread of new clones with reduced susceptibility to most antibiotics.

Automated summary

This article describes a new NDM-producing Kp clone, ST6668, that rapidly spread across hospitals in the Pavia province of Italy. Genomic surveillance programs are shown to be useful for tracking the spread of new clones with reduced antibiotic susceptibility.