Identification of Acinetobacter baumannii by Detection of the blaOXA-51-like Carbapenemase Gene Intrinsic to This Species

bla OXA-51-like was sought in clinical isolates of Acinetobacter species in a multiplex PCR, which also detects bla OXA-23-like and class 1 integrase genes. All isolates that gave a band for bla OXA-51-like identified as A. baumannii . This gene was detected in each of 141 isolates of A. baumannii but not in those of 22 other Acinetobacter species.