Epidemiology of Bacterial Pathogens Associated with Infectious Diarrhea inDjibouti

摘要

During a survey examining the causes of diarrhea in the East African country ofDjibouti, 140 bacterial pathogens were recovered from 209 diarrheal and 100 control stools. The following pathogens were isolated at comparable frequencies from both diarrheal and control stools: enteroadherent Escherichia coli (EAEC) (10.6 versus 13%), enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) (11 versus 10%), enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) (7.7 versus 12%), Salmonella spp. (2.9 versus 3%), and Campylobacter jejuni-C. coli (3.3 versus 5%). Surprisingly, the EAEC strains isolated did not correspond to well-recognized EPEC serogroups. No Yersinia spp., enteroinvasive E. coli, or enterohemorrhagic E. coli were isolated during the course of this study. Only the following two genera were recovered from diarrheal stools exclusively: Shigella spp. (7.7%) and Aeromonas hydrophila group organisms (3.3%). Shigella flexneri was the most common Shigella species isolated.