Unusual carriage of virulence genes by nosocomial from Brazil.

is an emerging threat in the nosocomial environment but only some virulence factors are known. The frequency of the gene (or orthologues ), encoding an invasiveness-related surface-associated protein, in was detected in different hospitals in Rio de Janeiro. 9.4% of strains were -positive, some were in the context of the ΦSPβ-like prophage and devoid of CRISPR systems, indicating potential transferability of their virulence genes. Gene sequencing evidenced that Brazilian harbored , instead of the usual , while had instead of , suggesting horizontal acquisition. The contexts of Brazilian favor transfer, which is alarming given the difficulty in treating infections caused by .