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

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Abstract

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 Aeromonas spp. Mixed infections with other enteric pathogens occurred in 12 patients. A. caviae was isolated from 23 clinical specimens. There were also patients infected with A. media, A. hydrophila, A. bestiarum, and A. veronii biovar veronii. All but three isolates carried one or more of the virulence genes. The incidence of the alt, hlyA, aerA, ast, and laf genes was 71.9, 28.1, 25.0, 18.8, and 9.4%, respectively. The alt +/ast + combination was detected in four isolates and the aerA+/hlyA+ combination was detected in the two A. hydrophila isolates. None of the strains harbored the TTSS, stx1, or stx2 genes and nine bore plasmids. Thirty clinical isolates and a collection of 12 A. caviae and A. media 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. caviae (aerA−/hlyA−/alt +/ast −/laf +) human isolate and two A. caviae (aerA−/hlyA−/alt +/ast −/laf +) drinking water isolates had indistinguishable PFGE patterns, suggesting waterborne infection.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Spanish CICYT (grant AGL2004-04672-ALI) and Junta de Castilla y León (Ayuda Grupo de Excelencia GR155). Manuel Pablos was a beneficiary of a fellowship from MEC.

We thank Borja Linage for the help in the PFGE testing. We also appreciate the kind collaboration of Dr. F. Cachón (Microbiology and Parasitology Service, Hospital of León, Spain).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Hygiene and Food Technology, Veterinary Faculty, University of León, 24071, León, Spain

    M. Pablos, J.-M. Rodríguez-Calleja, J. A. Santos, A. Otero & M.-L. García-López

  2. Microbiology and Parasitology Service, Hospital of León, 24701, León, Spain

    M.-A. Remacha

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  1. M. Pablos
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Pablos, M., Remacha, MA., Rodríguez-Calleja, JM. et al. Identity, virulence genes, and clonal relatedness of Aeromonas isolates from patients with diarrhea and drinking water. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 29, 1163–1172 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-010-0982-3

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