Molecular epidemiology of KPC-2- producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates in Brazil: the predominance of sequence type 437

The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic relatedness of 57 KPC-2–producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from 5 states in Brazil, during 2006–2009. Pulse-field gel electrophoresis analysis identified 10 pulsotypes. The pulsotype designated as Kp-RJ (Klebsiella pneumoniae–Rio de Janeiro) was the dominant clone found in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo. Multilocus sequence typing of Kp-RJ assigned it to ST 437. Sequence types ST11, ST16, ST25, ST70, ST101, ST105, ST423, ST442, and ST443 were also identified. These results indicate the dissemination of a successful KPC-producing clone (ST437) in Brazil, which is a single locus variant of ST258.