CTX-M-3 and CTX-M-15 extended-spectrum beta-lactamases in isolates of Escherichia coli from a hospital in Algiers, Algeria

Sixteen strains of Escherichia coli isolated between January and June 2005 in a hospital in Algiers carry the ISEcp1 element and the TEM and either CTX-M-3 (n=3) or CTX-M-15 (n=13) beta-lactamases. Fourteen of the isolates are multidrug resistant. Five isolates from the neonatal ward were indistinguishable by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.