New platform to detect and track drug-resistant infections in the works
The office of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that the New York State Department of Health (DOH) will partner with ILÚM Health Solutions to develop a research program to detect, track, and manage antibiotic-resistant infections at healthcare facilities across the state.
According to a press release from the governor's office, DOH and ILÚM—a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck & Co.—will work together to develop an infectious disease platform and real-time information service that tracks drug-resistant organisms, patients, and outcomes, delivers relevant insights to help healthcare providers make better treatments decisions, and connects DOH to state facilities. The collected data will also be used to aid in the development of new diagnostic tools.
"Through public-private partnerships and investments in advanced research, New York State is working to help curb the spread of infectious diseases," Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul said in the press release. "This new partnership will make significant strides in detecting and managing infections, helping to ensure the health and safety of New Yorkers."
Under the terms of the agreement, ILÚM will invest up to $48.6 million in the project over 5 years, and the New York State Life Sciences Initiative will commit $22.4 million. A pilot program at select facilities will be evaluated for efficiency and efficacy before the program is expanded throughout the state.
Sep 24 NY governor's office press release
CTX-M genes found in E coli isolates from US cattle, retail meat samples
A new study by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) researchers has identified and characterized Escherichia coli carrying the extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) gene CTX-M in food-producing animals and animal products in the United States. The study was published in the September issue of Microbial Drug Resistance.
While CTX-M-producing E coli strains have become increasingly prevalent in hospitals in the United States and around the world and have been identified in bacteria from healthy animals in several countries, there have been fewer reports of CTX-M ESBLs in bacteria from food animals and animal products in the United States. Intestinal carriage of CTX-M–producing bacteria in food-producing animals and contamination of retail meat is a concern because it may contribute to increased incidences of infections with ESBL-producing bacteria in humans.
To investigate the presence of CTX-M–carrying E coli in US food animals, the researchers conducted antibiotic susceptibility tests to determine which E coli isolates from cattle, chicken breasts, ground turkey, ground beef, and pork chops collected by the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) from 2011 through 2015 were likely ESBL producers. They then performed whole-genome sequencing on the 18 phenotypically positive ESBL E coli isolates to characterize the resistome, plasmids, and resistance genes in all strains.
Their analysis revealed that all of the isolates were resistant to at least three antimicrobial classes and carried various CTX-M genes, including blaCTX-M-1, blaCTX-M-14, blaCTX-M-15, blaCTX-M-27, and blaCTX-M-32. Notably, this is the first report of E coli isolates from the NARMS retail meat program carrying blaCTX-M-14 and blaCTX-M-15, the two most frequently identified CTX-M genes worldwide. In addition, conjugation testing performed on seven of the isolates showed the CTX-M genes could be transferred to other E coli strains.
The authors conclude, "While the prevalence of these two successful CTX-M enzymes is low from domestic food animal sources, monitoring will continue to help determine whether this mechanism is becoming more widespread among animal and food strains of E. coli in the United States."
Sep 1 Microb Drug Resist study
