Carbapenem Producing Organisms (CPO) & Candida auris

The first case of Carbapenem Producing Organism (CPO) in BC was identified in 2008 from a traveler who returned from a CPO-endemic country after undergoing a medical procedure. In the years that followed, there was global and local concern about the rise in CPO and the burden associated with these organisms¹. BC monitored CPO and as the number of cases increased, the growing threat of CPO in BC was recognized, and a response was activated. 

PICNet convened the health authorities, BC Centre for Disease Control’s (BCCDC) Public Health Laboratory, and the Ministry of Health. They collectively developed strategies for screening, surveillance and case management for the prevention and control of CPOs in healthcare settings in BC. In alignment to this work, a Ministry of Health Policy Communique was released in July 2014, mandating data collection, reporting, outbreak management strategies and communications processes for acute care settings. 

In December 2016, CPO were designated a reportable condition by the Provincial Health Officer and the provincial mandatory CPO surveillance program was expanded to include CPO isolates in the community. In September 2018, the CPO surveillance protocol was further expanded to include Candida auris (C. auris), a multidrug-resistant fungus first identified in 2009 in Japan and considered an important nosocomial pathogen². C. auris became reportable in BC in 2018.