Klebsiella pnuemoniae from Orang asli communities

Here we describe the genomic analysis of respiratory isolates of K. pneumoniae obtained from Orang Ulu and Orang Asli communities in Malaysian Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia respectively. The majority of isolates were KpSC1 K. pneumoniae (n=53, 89.8%). Four Klebsiella variicola subsp. variicola (KpSC3) and two Klebsiella quasipneumoniae subsp. similipneumoniae (KpSC4) were also found. It was discovered that 30.2% (n=16) of the Kp1 isolates were ST23, 11.3% (n=6) were of ST65, 7.5% (n=4) were ST13, and 13.2% (n=7) were ST86. Only eight of the Kp1 isolates encoded ESBL, but importantly not carbapenemase. Thirteen of the Kp1 isolates carried yersiniabactin, colibactin and aerobactin, all of which harboured the rmpADC locus and are therefore characterised as hypervirulent. Co-carriage of multiple strains was minimal.