Circulation of Klebsiella pneumoniae strains between the termites, chimpanzees and humans

The emergence and multiplication of multi-resistant microbes is becoming a major concern in medicine and scientific research, requiring an integrated, global approach to prevent their spread and develop new therapeutic solutions . Klebsiella pneumoniae can cause a variety of infections. It has several distinctive features, such as extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) production and frequency in hospital-acquired infections, which set it apart from other bacteria as Pseudomonas aeruginosa or staphylococci and make it of particular concern in the clinical setting. In this study, we worked on four strains of multidrug-resistant K. pneumoniae isolated from different patients at Fann Hospital in Dakar, Senegal. Whole genomes were compared them with those of nine K. pneumoniae isolates from chimpanzees (CHZ) and six from termites (T_NSC) from our previous study. The comparison revealed two major genetic groups: three human strains were virtually identical to those found in three chimpanzees and four genomes extracted from termites regularly consumed by chimpanzees were identical to five K. pneumoniae strains from chimpanzees. In silico, we identified the resistance genes and their corresponding families from each isolate, then genotyped them before comparing them with other isolates stored in the Institute Pasteur database. These strains have never been previously identified in Senegal.

It has been shown here that multiresistant K. pneumoniae strains circulate between chimpanzees and termites and between chimpanzees and humans. Furthermore, these strains, often associated with nosocomial infections, have been identified and genotyped outside Senegal. Although similar strains have been already identified in tropical countries and in different intensive care units throughout the world, we hypothesize that they may originate from termite-chimpanzee ecosystem.