The Genie II System to Support VetLIRN Investigations

CDC has declared the complex problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) inbacteria a serious public health threat. 1 Aggressive action is needed to prevent thespread of AMR bacteria and surveillance is necessary to detect new resistancemechanisms. To combat AMR, the CDC has identified 4 core actions: PreventingInfections and the Spread of Resistance, Disease Surveillance, Antibiotic Stewardshipand Development of New Diagnostics, all of which can be addressed through rapidmolecular diagnostics. In 2012, FDA announced the Cooperative Agreement PA-12-194 CVM Vet-LRNVeterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Program - (U18). The program has been anunqualified success, as highlighted in the recent FVM Research Impact: AdvancingPublic Health through Regulatory Science publication.2 The VetLIRN program washighlighted as advancing public health and as an integral part of the team working toslow the emergence of resistant bacteria and prevent the spread of resistant infections. The emergence of Carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) in companionanimal veterinary medicine was inevitable ? and yet we were, and are, completelyunprepared. CRE are regarded by the CDC as an urgent public health threat becausethey are not only carbapenem resistant but are resistant to most other antibiotic classes.To date there have been a few sporadic reports of CRE from dogs.3-10 Although theprevalence of CRE has risen significantly in human healthcare settings over the pastfew years we currently have no data on the community population prevalence of CREcolonization in dogs and cats. VetLIRN has created a Veterinary Antimicrobial WorkingGroup (VAWG) to navigate the complex issues associated with the isolation of theseorganisms from animals. The purchase of a Genie II System would very effectively increase our capacity to befully engaged with the VetLIRN AST and VAWG projects and begin the development ofisothermal amplification assays to rapidly detect CRE/CPOs at the point of care. TheGenie II System will also be used in Vet-LIRN investigations as assays have alreadybeen developed for other pathogens such as Salmonella. Case investigations frequentlyinclude pathogen detection, identification, and characterization of antibiotic resistance ofclinical isolates.