Outbreak of infection by carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii producing the carbapenemase OXA-58 in Belgium.

Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolates were obtained from 17 patients between September 2004 and August 2005 at the Academisch Ziekenhuis Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium. These multidrug-resistant isolates, which belonged to a single clone, remained susceptible to colistin and tigecycline only and produced the carbapenem-hydrolyzing oxacillinase OXA-58. This study highlights the importance of the intercountry spread of this beta-lactamase-mediated resistance mechanism and its epidemic evolution.