Spread of Neisseria gonorrhoeae resistant to tetracycline outside the United States of America.

Since February 1985 Neisseria gonorrhoeae resistant to tetracycline has been recognised increasingly in the United States of America, 99 isolates from 17 states having been reported by April 1987.' These isolates exhibit high resistance to tetracycline (minimal inhibitory concentration B 16 mg tetracycline/l), which is encoded on a 25-2 megadalton transmissible plasmid.2 We present what we believe is the first evidence of spread of N gonorrhoeae resistant to tetracycline from the United States and give detailed molecular analysis of these strains.