Polymyxins are last-resort antimicrobial agents used to treat infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae . Due to the worldwide dissemination of polymyxin resistance in animal and human isolates, we aimed to characterize polymyxin resistance associated with the presence of mcr-1 in Enterobacteriaceae and nonfermenter Gram-negative bacilli, using isolates collected retrospectively in Colombia from 2002 to 2016. A total of 5,887 Gram-negative clinical isolates were studied, and 513 were found to be resistant to the polymyxins. Susceptibility to colistin was confirmed by broth microdilution for all mcr-1 -positive isolates, and these were further subjected to whole-genome sequencing (WGS). The localization of mcr-1 was confirmed by S1 pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (S1-PFGE) and CeuI-PFGE hybridization. Transferability was evaluated by mating assays. A total of 12 colistin-resistant isolates recovered after 2013 harbored mcr-1 , including 8 Escherichia coli , 3 Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, and 1 Klebsiella pneumoniae isolate . E. coli isolates were unrelated by PFGE and belonged to 7 different sequence types (STs) and phylogroups. S . Typhimurium and K. pneumoniae isolates belonged to ST34 and ST307, respectively. The mcr-1 gene was plasmid borne in all isolates but two E. coli isolates which harbored it on the chromosome. Conjugation of mcr-1 was successful in 8 of 10 isolates (8.2 × 10 ⁻⁵ to 2.07 × 10 ⁻¹ cell per recipient). Plasmid sequences showed that the mcr-1 plasmids belonged to four different Inc groups (a new IncP-1 variant and the IncFII, IncHI1, and IncH families). Our results indicate that mcr-1 is circulating in clinical isolates of colistin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in Colombia and is mainly harbored in transferable plasmids.

Background: Since the first report of Candida auris in 2016, the Colombian Instituto Nacional de Salud (INS) has implemented a national surveillance of the emerging multidrug‐resistant fungus.Objectives: This report summarises the findings of this laboratory‐based surveillance from March 2016 to December 2020.Results: A total of 1720 C. auris cases were identified, including 393 (23%) colonisation cases and 1327 (77%) clinical cases. Cases were reported in 20 of 32 (62%) departments of Colombia and involved hospitals from 33 cities. The median age of patients was 34 years; 317 (18%) cases were children under 16 years, 54% were male. The peak number of cases was observed in 2019 (n = 541). In 2020, 379 (94%) of 404 cases reported were clinical cases, including 225 bloodstream infections (BSI) and 154 non‐BSI. Among the 404 cases reported in 2020, severe COVID‐19 was reported in 122 (30%). Antifungal susceptibility was tested in 379 isolates. Using CDC tentative breakpoints for resistance, 35% of isolates were fluconazole resistant, 33% were amphotericin B resistant, and 0.3% isolates were anidulafungin resistant, 12% were multidrug resistant, and no pan‐resistant isolates were identified.Conclusion: For five years of surveillance, we observed an increase in the number and geographic spread of clinical cases and an increase in fluconazole resistance. These observations emphasise the need for improved measures to mitigate spread.

Melioidosis, a disease caused by the pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei, is a significant underreported endemic disease found in tropical countries worldwide. Recent studies have demonstrated that human melioidosis cases have been increasingly recognized in the Americas. Therefore, the first Scientific Reunion of Melioidosis in the Americas was organized in Colombia, with the participation of health authorities of 11 Latin American countries and the United States. This report summarizes the topics reviewed during the meeting, including how to identify human infections and properly diagnose them, with the goal of increasing recognition of the disease in the Americas.

Little is known about the genetic diversity of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) circulating in Latin America. It has been observed that typhoid fever is still endemic in this part of the world; however, a lack of standardized blood culture surveillance across Latin American makes estimating the true disease burden problematic. The Colombian National Health Service established a surveillance system for tracking bacterial pathogens, including S. Typhi, in 2006. Here, we characterized 77 representative Colombian S. Typhi isolates collected between 1997 and 2018 using pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE; the accepted genotyping method in Latin America) and whole genome sequencing (WGS). We found that the main S. Typhi clades circulating in Colombia were clades 2.5 and 3.5. Notably, the sequenced S. Typhi isolates from Colombia were closely related in a global phylogeny. Consequently, these data suggest that these are endemic clades circulating in Colombia. We found that AMR in S. Typhi in Colombia was uncommon, with a small subset of organisms exhibiting mutations associated with reduced susceptibility to fluoroquinolones. This is the first time that S. Typhi isolated from Colombia have been characterized by WGS, and after comparing these data with those generated using PFGE, we conclude that PFGE is unsuitable for tracking S. Typhi clones and mapping transmission. The genetic diversity of pathogens such as S. Typhi is limited in Latin America and should be targeted for future surveillance studies incorporating WGS.

Objetivo. Describir las características epidemiológicas, fenotípicas y genéticas de aislamientos clínicos portadores de optrA identificados en la vigilancia de resistencia antimicrobiana por el laboratorio del Instituto Nacional de Salud de Colombia. Métodos. Entre octubre de 2014 y febrero 2019, se recibieron 25 aislamientos de Enterococcus spp. resistentes al linezolid. La identificación y sensibilidad antimicrobiana se determinó con Vitek 2 y la concentración inhibitoria mínima (CIM) al linezolid se estableció con E-test. El gen optrA se detectó mediante PCR. La diversidad genética de aislamientos positivos para optrA se analizó con Diversilab^®. Se seleccionaron seis aislamientos para llevar a cabo la secuenciación del genoma completo. Resultados. Se confirmó el gen optrA en 23/25 aislamientos de E. faecalis de siete departamentos de Colombia. Los aislamientos presentaron una CIM al linezolid entre 8 y >256µg/mL. La tipificación por Diversilab® indicó una amplia variabilidad genética. Todos los aislamientos analizados mediante secuenciación del genoma completo, presentaron genes de resistencia fexA, ermB, lsaA, tet(M), tet(L) y dfrG además de optrA y fueron negativos para otros mecanismos de resistencia al linezolid. Se identificaron tres secuencias tipos y tres variantes de optrA: ST16 (optrA-2), ST476 (optrA-5) y ST618 (optrA-6). El entorno genético de los aislamientos optrA-2 (ST16) presentó el segmento impB, fex, optrA, asociado a plásmido, mientras que en dos aislamientos (optrA-6 y optrA-5) se encontró el elemento cromosómico transferible Tn6674-like. Conclusión. Los aislamientos clínicos positivos para optrA presentan una alta diversidad genética, con diferentes clones y variantes de optrA relacionados con dos tipos de estructuras y diferentes elementos genéticos móviles.