Dissemination of a Carbapenem-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Strain Belonging to International Clone II/Sequence Type 2 and Harboring a Novel AbaR4-Like Resistance Island in Latvia

An outbreak of hospital-acquired A. baumannii infections, caused by a bla OXA-23 -positive carbapenem resistant strain belonging to international clone II/ST2, was detected in Latvia. The strain was partially equipped with the armA gene and intI1 - aacA4 - catB8 - aadA1 - qacEΔ1 class 1 integron. In addition, the strain carried AbaR25, a novel AbaR4-like resistance island of ∼ 46500 bp containing structures similar to the previously described AbaR22 and Tn 6167 islands. AbaR25 was characterized by the occurrence of a second copy of Tn 6022a interrupted by Tn 2006 carrying the bla OXA-23 gene.