Flies from a tertiary hospital in Rwanda carry multidrug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens including extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing E. coli sequence type 131.

Multidrug-resistant gram-negative (MRGN) bacteria are a serious threat to global health. We used genomics to study MRGN obtained from houseflies in a tertiary Rwandan hospital. Our analysis revealed a high abundance of different MRGN including E. coli pathogenic lineage ST131 suggesting the important role of flies in disseminating highly virulent pathogens in clinical settings and beyond.