title: Aeromonas isolates from human diarrheic stool and groundwater compared by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.
abstract: Gastrointestinal infections of Aeromonas species are generally considered waterborne; for this reason, Aeromonas hydrophila has been placed on the United States Environmental Protection Agency Contaminant Candidate List of emerging pathogens in drinking water. In this study, we compared pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns of Aeromonas isolates from stool specimens of patients with diarrhea with Aeromonas isolates from patients' drinking water. Among 2,565 diarrheic stool specimens submitted to a Wisconsin clinical reference laboratory, 17 (0.66%) tested positive for Aeromonas. Groundwater isolates of Aeromonas were obtained from private wells throughout Wisconsin and the drinking water of Aeromonas-positive patients. The analysis showed that the stool and drinking water isolates were genetically unrelated, suggesting that in this population Aeromonas gastrointestinal infections were not linked with groundwater exposures.
authors.affiliation: Marshfield Medical Research Foundation, Marshfield, Wisconsin 54449, USA. borcharm@mmrf.mfldclin.edu
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Borchardt
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Stemper
authors.forename: Jon H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Standridge
mesh_terms: D000333:Aeromonas / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014881:Water Supply