Identity, virulence genes, and clonal relatedness of isolates from patients with diarrhea and drinking water

M. Pablos (1) , M.-A. Remacha (2) , J.-M. Rodríguez-Calleja (1) , J. A. Santos (1) , A. Otero (1) , M.-L. García-López (1)

1 Department of Food Hygiene and Food Technology, Veterinary Faculty
2 Microbiology and Parasitology Service

Among 800 stool specimens from patients with diarrhea submitted by Primary Care Centers for routine analysis to the Hospital of León (NW Spain) Microbiology and Parasitology Service, 32 (4%) were tested positive for spp. Mixed infections with other enteric pathogens occurred in 12 patients. was isolated from 23 clinical specimens. There were also patients infected with , , , and biovar . All but three isolates carried one or more of the virulence genes. The incidence of the , A, A, , and genes was 71.9, 28.1, 25.0, 18.8, and 9.4%, respectively. The / combination was detected in four isolates and the A/A combination was detected in the two isolates. None of the strains harbored the TTSS, 1, or 2 genes and nine bore plasmids. Thirty clinical isolates and a collection of 12 and strains obtained from León municipal drinking water over the study period were typed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). PFGE patterns revealed genetic relatedness and persistence over time among water isolates and some clinical isolates. Interestingly, one (A/A///) human isolate and two (A/A///) drinking water isolates had indistinguishable PFGE patterns, suggesting waterborne infection.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

M. Pablos, M.-A. Remacha, J.-M. Rodríguez-Calleja, J. A. Santos, A. Otero, et al.. Identity, virulence genes, and clonal relatedness of isolates from patients with diarrhea and drinking water. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, 2010, 29 (9), pp.1163-1172. ⟨10.1007/s10096-010-0982-3⟩. ⟨hal-00600040⟩