First detection of a VIM-1 metallo- -lactamase in a carbapenem-resistant Citrobacter freundii clinical isolate in an acute hospital in Germany

We report the first detection of a carbapenem-resistant Citrobacter freundii clinical strain in Germany. It was isolated from an abscess of a patient with acute necrotic pancreatitis in an acute hospital. PCR and sequencing experiments revealed that the carbapenem resistance was mediated by a VIM-1 metallo- -lactamase, located on a plasmid encoded class 1 integron. Carbapenem resistance in Enterobacteriaceae is so far a rare event and 1 of the major therapeutic concerns in the future.