CTX-M-14 β-lactamase-producing Citrobacter freundii isolated in Venezuela

A clinical isolate of C. freundii with reduced susceptibility to extended-spectrum β-lactams from a woman with cystocele associated with recurrent urinary tract infection was analyzed. Susceptibility tests, double disk synergy tests (DDST) and enzymatic activity by the agar iodometric method suggested the presence of ESBLs. Conjugation experiments revealed the presence of a large conjugative plasmid (pLM07/20) with an exclusive FrepB replicon type (IncF/FIB). PCR analysis and sequencing confirmed the presence of the bla(CTX-M-14 )gene in the pLM07/20 from C. freundii.LM07/10. Although this is the first report of CTX-M-14 in Venezuela, we alert the medical community that future increase of these β-lactamases in our city could be due to dissemination of plasmids into bacterial populations.