Evidence of hypervirulent carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in cats with urinary affections and associated humans in Egypt

The emergence of hypervirulent and carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae poses a significant threat to the public health of both cats and their owners. Therefore, conducting molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of K. pneumoniae strains in both cats and humans in Egypt is crucial. 108 feline and 101 human urine samples were collected and subjected to routine microbiological isolation and molecular identification of K. pneumoniae. Subsequently, phenotypic antimicrobial sensitivity patterns and molecular identification of classical virulence, hypervirulence, and carbapenem resistance genes were examined. A total of 46 K. pneumoniae isolates were recovered, comprising 43.4% (23 out of 53) from diseased humans, 4.17% (2 out of 48) from healthy humans, 22.95% (14 out of 61) from diseased felines, and 14.89% (7 out of 47) from healthy felines. The detection rates for narrow drug-resistant (NDR), multidrug-resistant (MDR), extensively drug-resistant (XDR), and pan drug-resistant (PDR) strains were 41.30%, 54.35%, 2.17%, and 2.17%, respectively. The distribution rates for mrKD, entB, K2, Kfu, and MagA genes were 76.1%, 82.6%, 8.7%, 13.0%, and 0%, respectively. In addition, the distribution of hypervirulence genes was 41.3%, 36.9%, 13.0%, 10.9%, and 17.4% for iucA, iroB, Peg344, rmPA, and rmPA2, respectively, and 43.5%, 30.4%, 19.6%, and 52.2% for NDM, OXA-48, VIM, and KPC resistance genes, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of the entB gene from four recovered strains revealed a relationship between feline strains and other human strains. In conclusion, this study focused on the molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of hypervirulent and carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae in companion cats and humans in Egypt.