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Integrating WGS with Epidemiologic Data to Guide Containment in a Multi-Facility CP-CRAB Outbreak — Georgia, Nov 2024–May 2025

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2026

Diane Yi
Affiliation:
Georgia Department of Public Health
Michael Anderson
Affiliation:
Georgia Department of Public Health
Shamta Warang
Affiliation:
Georgia Department of Public Health
Sue Milligan
Affiliation:
Georgia Department of Public Health
Gebre Tiga
Affiliation:
Georgia Public Health Laboratory
Karen Williams
Affiliation:
Georgia Department of Public Health
JoAnna Wagner
Affiliation:
Georgia Department of Public Health

Abstract

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Background: Carbapenemase-producing carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CP-CRAB) is a highly-transmissible multidrug-resistant organism. In November 2024, the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) identified a multi-facility CP-CRAB outbreak in central Georgia and applied whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to guide containment. Methods: During November 2024–May 2025, Georgia and Tennessee Public Health Laboratories confirmed 31 CP-CRAB cases. 24 isolates underwent WGS on Illumina MiSeq; sequences were processed with CDC’s PHoeNIx pipeline, and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) heatmaps were generated with Snippy and Python. Epidemiologic data were abstracted from medical records; risk factors and network analyses were conducted using Excel, with case pairs ?10 SNPs prioritized for analysis. Results: WGS identified 18 cases in three sub-clusters, plus 2 related and 4 unrelated cases; SNP distances ranged 0–34, with 16/49 (33%) case pairs ?10 SNPs. Facilities included four acute-care hospitals (ACH-1–ACH-4, primary ACH-1), with prior exposures to 3 skilled-nursing facilities (SNFs), 1 ventilated-SNF (vSNF), and 1 long-term ACH (LTACH). Sub-cluster 1 (n = 8; 0–26 SNPs; 12/29 pairs ?10 SNPs) specimen sources included 3 respiratory, 2 urinary, 2 wound, and 1 blood specimens from ACH-1–ACH-4. 6 cases formed 12 ?10-SNP pairs, with collection dates 3–52 days apart; 3/6 cases were admitted to ACH-1 from vSNF with direct overlap, 4/6 had prior exposure to ACH-1, and 2/6 had no epidemiologic links. Prior healthcare exposure and intra-facility (ACH-1) movement were observed among all 6 cases. Sub-cluster 2 (n = 5; 2–22 SNPs; 3/10 ?10) involved 5 ventilated respiratory cases, 4 from ACH-1 and 1 from ACH-2. Conclusions: Integrating WGS with epidemiologic data revealed sub-clusters—multiple introductions, distinct transmission pathways, and related cases with wide ranges between collection dates—enabling sub-cluster-specific containment recommendations. These findings informed Georgia’s first multi-facility CP-CRAB outbreak investigation, contributing to the development of a multi-facility engagement model that improved interfacility communication and provider awareness of transmission. Routine WGS–epidemiologic integration is critical for targeted containment and coordinated regional response.

Information

Type
Molecular Epidemiology
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America