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

The interest of 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 are available all over the world, no published data are available from Gaza strip. Moreover, there is no routine testing for the detection of Yersinia and Aeromonas in clinical or environmental samples. This study was conducted to investigate the occurrence, sources of both Y. enterocolitica and A. hydrophila in clinical, food and environmental samples.

This study examined 300 diarrheal stools to investigate the presence of Y. enterocolitica and A. hydrophila in clinical samples. 95 food samples and 84 environmental samples were also tested. Conventional isolation technique was employed. All suspected Y. enterocolitica and A. hydrophila were identified using conventional microbiological techniques.  Of the 479 tested samples, 30 (6.2%) were positive for Y. enterocolitica and 179 (37.4%) for A. hydrophila. 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.

Yersinia species were isolated from all sampled sources except seawater. The highest incidence was from sewage (19.1%) followed by animal excreta (11.5%), while, clinical samples showed the lowest percentage (4.7%). A. hydrophila was also isolated from all sampled sources, whereas meat and water showed the highest incidence (48.9% and 46.9% respectively).

Keywords: Y. enterocolitica, A. hydrophila, KOH treatment, Gaza strip, Palestine