title: Yersiniosis in France: overview and potential sources of infection.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to exploit the extensive database on strains of Yersinia collected over more than 50 years in France in order to gain an overview of yersiniosis and potential sources of contamination in this country.
  
  
  METHODS
  The 19 670 strains of Yersinia of human, animal, environmental, and food origin isolated in France were grouped by species, biotype, and serotype.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most human strains (59%) were pathogenic, with a marked predominance of Yersinia enterocolitica bioserotype 4/O:3 (66.8%), followed by Y. enterocolitica 2/O:9 (23.8%) and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (6.1%). Pigs and pork meat were the nearly exclusive sources of Y. enterocolitica 4/O:3. Other pathogenic strains were rarely isolated from food or environmental samples (0.2%). The major source of pathogenic Yersinia was the animal reservoir, with a remarkable association between Y. enterocolitica 4/O:3 and pigs, Y. pseudotuberculosis and wildlife, Y. enterocolitica 2/O:9 and grazing farm animals, Y. enterocolitica 5/O:2,3 and hares, and Y. enterocolitica 3/O:1,2,3 and chinchillas.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The frequency of human infection caused by certain Yersinia subgroups might be related to the frequency of exposure to specific animal sources. In contrast, non-pathogenic Yersinia were commonly isolated from foodstuffs and the environment, most probably accounting for the abundance of non-pathogenic Yersinia recovered from human stools.
authors.affiliation: Yersinia Research Unit and National Reference Laboratory, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr. Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France. Electronic address: anne-sophie.le-guern@pasteur.fr.
authors.forename: Anne-Sophie
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Le Guern
authors.affiliation: Yersinia Research Unit and National Reference Laboratory, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr. Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France.
authors.forename: Liliane
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Yersinia Research Unit and National Reference Laboratory, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr. Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France.
authors.forename: Cyril
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Savin
authors.affiliation: Yersinia Research Unit and National Reference Laboratory, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr. Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carniel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004777:Environment; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D000069466:Red Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D013552:Swine; D015009:Yersinia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D015008:Yersinia enterocolitica / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015011:Yersinia pseudotuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015012:Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology
keywords: Biotype; Enteropathogen; Epidemiology; Yersinia; Yersinia enterocolitica; Yersinia pseudotuberculosis