First Case of High-Level Azithromycin-Resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae in North Carolina.

We report on the first high-level azithromycin-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolate (minimum inhibitory concentration, ≥256 μg/mL) in North Carolina isolated from a pharyngeal swab of a 33-year-old HIV-negative man who has sex with men. In addition, the isolate was found to be susceptible to cefixime, ceftriaxone, and penicillin and resistant to tetracycline. By whole-genome sequencing, the strain was assigned as MLST ST9363, NG-MAST ST5035, and a novel NG-STAR sequence type, ST1993.