Extensively and multi drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii recovered from technosol at a dump site in Croatia Jasna Hrenovic a , Goran Durn b, ⁎, Martina Seruga Music a , Svjetlana Dekic a , Tamara Troskot-Corbic c , Dijana Skoric a a University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science, Zagreb, Croatia b University of Zagreb, Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering, Croatia c INA d.d., Zagreb, Croatia HIGHLIGHTS • Technosol at the edge of dump site is rich in petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals. • From technosol three isolates of A. baumannii were recovered. • Isolates from technosol are closely relat- ed to clinical isolates of A. baumannii. • Illegally disposed hospital waste is the most probable source of A. baumannii in technosol. • Illegal dump sites could represent the public health risk. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT abstract article info Article history: Received 20 May 2017 Received in revised form 9 July 2017 Accepted 12 July 2017 Available online xxxx Editor: Simon Pollard In a karst pit above City of Rijeka in Croatia the hazardous industrial waste was continuously disposed from 1955 to 1990, and later it was periodically used as an illegal dump site. The surface part of a technosol at the edge of dump was analysed mineralogically, geochemically and bacteriologically. From the technosol rich in petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals three isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii were recovered. Isolates from technosol shared many features that are previously described for clinically isolates: the affiliation to IC1 and 2, multi-drug resistant (MDR) or extensively drug-resistant (XDR) antibiotic resistance profile, carbapenem resistance mediat- ed by bla OXA72 and bla OXA23 genes, and the expression of virulence factors. In in vitro conditions, isolates were able to survive in contact with technosol during 58 days of monitoring. The most probable source of A. baumannii in technosol was the illegally disposed hospital waste. Proper management and disposal of human solid waste is mandatory to prevent the spread of clinically important A. baumannii in nature. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Bacteria Environment Hydrocarbons Tar Waste 1. Introduction Acinetobacter baumannii is an emerging pathogen frequently report- ed as a cause of hospital outbreaks or sporadic acute community- acquired infections (Dexter et al., 2015). Due to its high frequency of an- tibiotic resistance and capability to escape the biocidal action of Science of the Total Environment 607–608 (2017) 1049–1055 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: goran.durn@oblak.rgn.hr (G. Durn). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.07.108 0048-9697/© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Science of the Total Environment journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scitotenv