NEW MICROBIOLOGICA, 37, 87-90, 2014 Corresponding author Paolo Gaibani, PhD Operative Unit of Microbiology S. Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital Regional Reference Centre for Microbiological Emergencies Via G. Massarenti, 9 - 40138 Bologna, Italy E-mail: paolo.gaibani@unibo.it. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are increasingly prevalent pathogens world- wide and represent a serious public health threat (Nordmann et al., 2011). CRE infections (in particular bloodstream and low respiratory tract infections) have been associated with se- vere outcome (Zarkotou et al., 2011; Lee et al., 2012). High mortality rates of CRE infections are mainly due to the great limitation of anti- microbial therapy choice (Lee et al., 2012). Nu- merous studies reported the widescale spread of different types of carbapenemases in Europe (Canton et al., 2012). In particular, carbape- nem resistance among Enterobacteriaceae in Italy are almost totally referable to the produc- tion of two carbapenemases types: class A, K. pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC), and class B, metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL) (Ambretti et SUMMARY Received February 20, 2013 Accepted July 7, 2013 We describe an outbreak of a carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae sequence type 258 (ST258) clone in an Italian hospital during two months in 2010. The rapid detection and management of the eleven patients colonized and infected with KPC-producing K.pneumoniae curbed the spread of this multidrug-resistant organism. KEY WORDS: Infection control, KPC, Klebsiella pneumonia. Successful containment and infection control of a Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae outbreak in an Italian hospital Paolo Gaibani 1 , Rosaria Colombo 2 , Milena Arghittu 2 , Lisa Cariani 2 , Simone Ambretti 1 , Gloria Bua 1 , Donatella Lombardo 1 , Maria Paola Landini 1 , Erminio Torresani 2 , Vittorio Sambri 1 1 Operative Unit of Clinical Microbiology, Regional Reference Centre for Microbiological Emergencies (CRREM), St.Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital, Bologna, Italy; 2 Operative Unit of Central Laboratories and Microbiology, Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico Hospital, Milan, Italy al., 2010; Gaibani et al., 2011a; Gaibani et al., 2011b; Gaibani et al., 2013). Several strategies have been adopted to control CRE outbreaks (Owens et al., 2006). Here, we described an outbreak of KPC-producing K. pneumoniae occurring in a large Italian hospital and the impact of timely laboratory diagnosis of KPC infections to the successful infection control measures adopted to control and manage the spread of this CRE. On 8 th November, a carbapenems-non sus- ceptible K. pneumoniae was isolated from a patient admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) ward. In detail, the K. pneumoniae car- bapenems-non susceptible isolate was analyzed for the antibiotic susceptibility using a Vitek2 semi-automated system (bioMérieux, France). Species identification was also performed by MALDI-TOF assay. Antibiogram revealed that the K. pneumoniae isolate was resistant to all beta-lactam antibiotics (including carbapen- ems), aminoglycosides, and fluoroquinolones, wheras it was susceptible only to gentamicin, tigecycline and colistin, in accordance with the European Committee on Antimicrobial Suscep- tibility Testing (EUCAST) (The European Com-