Lack of antimicrobial resistance in Yersinia pestis isolates from 17 countries in the Americas, Africa, and Asia.

Yersinia pestis is the causative agent of plague, a fulminant disease that is often fatal without antimicrobial treatment. Plasmid (IncA/C)-mediated multidrug resistance in Y. pestis was reported in 1995 in Madagascar and has generated considerable public health concern, most recently because of the identification of IncA/C multidrug-resistant plasmids in other zoonotic pathogens. Here, we demonstrate no resistance in 392 Y. pestis isolates from 17 countries to eight antimicrobials used for treatment or prophylaxis of plague.