Occurrence of Yersinia enterocolitica and Aeromonas hydrophila in Clinical, Food and Environmental Samples in Gaza Strip

Abstract

The interest on the occurrence of Yersinia enterocolitica and Aeromonas hydrophila, their pathogenicity and antimicrobial resistance is increasing worldwide because both were linked to acute and chronic gastroenteritis, septicemia and wound infections. Though reports on the occurrence of both pathogens among human that are available from certain areas, no published data are available from Gaza strip. Moreover, there are no routine methods for the detection of Yersinia and Aeromonas in clinical or environmental samples. Hence this study investigated the occurrence of both Y. enterocolitica and A. hydrophila in clinical and environmental samples. Of the 473 clinical and environmental samples, 28 (5.9%) were positive for Y. enterocolitica and 179 (38.1%) for A. hydrophila. With high incidence of Y. enterocolitica and A. hydrophila in sewage (19.1%) and water (46.9%) respectively. The overall incidence of Y. enterocolitica and A. hydrophila in clinical samples was 4.7% and 34.3% respectively, with high frequency of both pathogens in AL-Dorrah and AL-Nasser hospitals. Virulence of isolates was assessed and their antimicrobial resistance to 20 antimicrobial agents was evaluated. Both clinical and environmental isolates possessed virulence factors with higher frequency in clinical samples. Antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed that most of Y. enterocolitica isolates were sensitive to most antibiotics; on the other hand, most of A. hydrophila isolates showed multiple antibiotic resistances. The most effective antimicrobials on A. hydrophila were azetreonam, ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin.