A cluster of European returning travelers from the island of Gran Canaria are reported to have carried or were infected with carbapenemase (OXA-48)-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae ST392., according to ECDC Rapid Risk Assessment published last week.

Klebsiella pneumoniae/CDC
Klebsiella pneumoniae/CDC

The cluster included 13 people from Sweden, Finland and Norway and is an example of cross-border spread of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA).

Six Swedish cases notified between January and April 2018 were all hospitalized in the same hospital in Gran Canaria, while three of the Norway travelers were hospitalized at the same hospital as the Swedish travelers.

ECDC says cross-border transfers of patients or hospital admissions of patients with previous hospitalisation in another country are a daily occurrence in EU/EEA hospitals.

The risk for individual travellers to acquire OXA-48-producing K. pneumoniae ST392 of the Gran Canaria cluster without healthcare contact is very low, according to officials. However, if carriers of OXA-48-producing K. pneumoniae ST392 of the Gran Canaria cluster are admitted to a hospital in their country of origin, there is a high risk of transmission and subsequent outbreaks if OXA-48-producing K. pneumoniae ST392 carriage remains undetected and there are no adequate infection control and prevention measures.

Read more at ECDC