National genomic surveillance of carbapenemase-producing Escherichia coli isolates in Slovenia, January 1st-December 31st 2023

Introduction

The incidence of carbapenemase-producing (CP) Escherichia coli has increased worldwide, with the first reports in Europe dating back to the early 2000s. As part of the European Genomic Reference Laboratory Capacity Building (EURGen-RefLabCap) project, Slovenia conducted its first national genomic surveillance study of CP-E. coli. The aim was to characterize CP-E. coli isolates recovered from Slovenian patients between 1 January and 31 December 2023 using whole-genome sequencing (WGS), providing a national snapshot of the population structure and circulating strains.