Antimicrobial resistance and production of toxins in Escherichia coli strains from wild ruminants and the alpine marmot.

Escherichia coli strains isolated from 81 fecal samples from red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreoulus capreoulus), chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) and alpine marmot (Marmota marmota) living in the Stelvio National Park, Italy, were examined for antimicrobial resistance and production of toxic factors. Direct plating of specimens on media containing antimicrobial drugs allowed us to isolate resistant strains of E. coli from 10 of 59 (17%) specimens examined by this technique.

Incidence of Legionella pneumophila infection in tourists: Italy.

Legionella pneumophila has frequently been recognised as a cause of infection in tourists. From 1973 to 1987, 117 cases of legionellosis were reported in tourists who spent one or more weeks in Italian summer resorts. 6 (5.

Legionella pneumophila in a hospital in Torino, Italy. A retrospective one-year study.

Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 was isolated from post mortem specimens from 13 out of 58 patients with pneumonia diagnosed at autopsy. The results of a study undertaken in the hospital environment showed that the water plumbing system was colonized with L. pneumophila serogroup 1 which could also be isolated from respiratory devices filled with tap water.

A family cluster of Legionella pneumophila infections.

Three members of one single family of 4, the father, a son and a daughter, showed seroconversion against Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 (Lp SG1). The son had a severe pneumonia, whereas the father and the daughter did not develop any other illness than mild and transient fever. A fourth member, the mother, remained seronegative.

Plasmid profiles of Legionella spp. isolates, Italy.

Plasmid analysis and restriction-endonuclease digestion were used to study 54 clinical and environmental Legionella strains. Plasmids with approximate molecular masses of 40, 50, 70, and 90 megadaltons (Mdal) have been isolated from L. pneumophila serogroup 1 strains.

Dissemination of a gentamicin resistance plasmid in the microbial population of hospital patients.

The dissemination of a gentamicin resistant plasmid, originally found in strains of Klebsiella and termed pk181, into the microbial population of patients of the Orvieto Hospital was studied during 1982. Five hundred and seventy-four strains of Gram-negative bacilli were examined, transferable gentamicin resistance being revealed in five different bacterial species. The resistance was shown to be encoded by 81-megadalton plasmids in Escherichia coli and Enterobacter cloacae, and by 93-megadalton plasmids in Serratia marcescens and Pseudomonas spp.

Plasmid mediated gentamicin resistance in strains of Klebsiella from hospital acquired infections.

Two gentamicin resistant strains of Klebsiella were isolated at different times from patients with hospital acquired urinary tract infections. Both strains contained a conjugative 81-megadalton plasmid that encoded resistance to gentamicin, ampicillin, cephalothin and mercuric chloride. The plasmid conferred to Escherichia coli CSH26 the same pattern of resistance to eight aminoglycoside antibiotics and gave similar DNA fragments after restriction endonuclease digestion.

Faecal bacteria of wild ruminants and the alpine marmot.

Faecal samples from 60 red deer (Cervus elaphus), 13 roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), 7 chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), 41 alpine marmot (Marmota marmota) and soils mixed with deer faeces from the Stelvio National Park were examined for Campylobacter sp. and Salmonella sp. with negative results.