Worldwide dissemination of acquired carbapenem-hydrolysing class D β-lactamases in Acinetobacter spp. other than Acinetobacter baumannii

The aim of this study was to identify acquired OXA-type carbapenemases in Acinetobacter spp. other than Acinetobacter baumannii. From a total of 453 carbapenem-susceptible and -resistant Acinetobacter isolates collected worldwide, 23 were positive for bla_OXA genes by multiplex PCR. These isolates were identified as Acinetobacter pittii (n = 18), Acinetobacter nosocomialis (n = 2), Acinetobacter junii (n = 1) and Acinetobacter genomic species 14TU/13BJ (n = 2). The bla_OXA genes and associated insertion sequence (IS) elements were sequenced by primer walking. In 11 of these isolates, sequencing of the PCR products revealed that they were false-positive for bla_OXA. The remaining 12 isolates, originating from Europe, Asia, South America, North America and South Africa, harboured OXA-23 (n = 4), OXA-58 (n = 5), OXA-40-like (n = 1) and OXA-143-like (n = 1); one A. pittii isolate harboured both OXA-23 and OXA-58. IS elements were associated with bla _OXA in 10 isolates. OXA multiplex PCR showed a high degree of false-positive results (47.8%), indicating that detection of bla_OXA in non-baumannii Acinetobacter spp. should be confirmed using additional methods.