Antibiotic resistance is a public health problem. The emergence of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) infections is a concern, particularly in Senegal. (1) Methods: Between January 2019 and July 2022, 240 isolates of enterobacteria resistant to third-generation cephalosporins and imipenem from biological samples from Fann Hospital (Dakar) and Hôpital Paix (Ziguinchor) were selected. The isolates were identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, and susceptibility tests were performed by the disk diffusion method. Antibiotic-resistance genes for class A beta-lactamases, carbapenemases, and plasmid resistance to colistin resistance (mcr-1–8) were screened by RT-PCR. (2) Results: The 240 enterobacteria were composed of: Escherichia coli (60.83%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (21.67%), Enterobacter cloacae (13.75%), Citrobacter freundii (2.08%), Serratia marcescens (0.83%), Klebsiella aerogenes (0.42%), and Proteus mirabilis (0.42%). Class A beta-lactamase genes were found in 229 isolates (70.41% bla_TEM, 37.5% bla_SHV, 83.75% bla_CTX-A, and 0.42% bla_CTX-B). The carbapenemase genes bla_OXA-48 and bla_NDM were found in 25 isolates, including 14 isolates with bla_OXA-48, 13 isolates with bla_NDM, and 2 isolates with both genes simultaneously. The mcr-8 gene was found in one isolate of E. cloacae. (3) Conclusions: The epidemiology of antibiotic-resistance genes in enterobacteria in Senegal shows the emergence of CPEs. This phenomenon is worrying, and rigorous surveillance is necessary to avoid further spread.

The emergence and multiplication of multi-resistant microbes is becoming a major concern in medicine and scientific research, requiring an integrated, global approach to prevent their spread and develop new therapeutic solutions . Klebsiella pneumoniae can cause a variety of infections. It has several distinctive features, such as extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) production and frequency in hospital-acquired infections, which set it apart from other bacteria as Pseudomonas aeruginosa or staphylococci and make it of particular concern in the clinical setting. In this study, we worked on four strains of multidrug-resistant K. pneumoniae isolated from different patients at Fann Hospital in Dakar, Senegal. Whole genomes were compared them with those of nine K. pneumoniae isolates from chimpanzees (CHZ) and six from termites (T_NSC) from our previous study. The comparison revealed two major genetic groups: three human strains were virtually identical to those found in three chimpanzees and four genomes extracted from termites regularly consumed by chimpanzees were identical to five K. pneumoniae strains from chimpanzees. In silico, we identified the resistance genes and their corresponding families from each isolate, then genotyped them before comparing them with other isolates stored in the Institute Pasteur database. These strains have never been previously identified in Senegal. It has been shown here that multiresistant K. pneumoniae strains circulate between chimpanzees and termites and between chimpanzees and humans. Furthermore, these strains, often associated with nosocomial infections, have been identified and genotyped outside Senegal. Although similar strains have been already identified in tropical countries and in different intensive care units throughout the world, we hypothesize that they may originate from termite-chimpanzee ecosystem.