Carbapenem-resistant Organisms in Companion Animals in New York City, 2019–2022
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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that carbapenem-resistant organisms (CRO) threaten human health. CRO can infect or colonize dogs and cats, with potential for zoonotic transmission to humans, but CRO prevalence in pet populations is not well-characterized. To characterize CRO prevalence among gram-negative cultured isolates from New York City (NYC) dogs and cats, we analyzed antimicrobial susceptibility data from one commercial veterinary diagnostic laboratory serving NYC veterinarians during 2019–2022. Among 16,115 gram-negative isolates, 256 (1.6%) were CRO cultured from 241 dogs and cats. CRO detections and percent positivity fluctuated during 2019–2022, including some spatial patterning. While CRO detections among companion animals were rare, increases in carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella spp. and Enterobacter spp. isolates may represent local clusters. Public health partnerships with commercial veterinary diagnostic laboratories create opportunities to share data to improve veterinary outreach and control of CRO in companion animals.
