David Vargas-Peralta, Santiago Castillo-Ramírez
Acinetobacter baumannii has become a global public health concern. Although it has traditionally been associated with hospital settings, it has also been detected in companion animals, livestock, and wildlife, as well as in food and environmental sources, particularly aquatic ones. This review provides an overview of some mobile genetic elements (MGEs) (insertion sequences, transposons, and plasmids) within non-human populations of A. baumannii. These MGEs have been associated with antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in both human and nonhuman settings. Importantly, the presence of clinically relevant lineages in non-hospital environments suggests circulation between human and non-human populations. The current evidence suggests that non-human populations and their MGEs may act as reservoirs and disseminators of resistance genes. Overall, these findings broaden its ecological spectrum and reinforce the need for a comprehensive One Health approach.