YERSINIA-PSEUDOTUBERCULOSIS IN ITALY - ATTEMPTED RECOVERY FROM 37,666SAMPLES

From 1981 to 1991, 37,666 human, animal, food and environmental sample s were cultured for Yersinia pseudotuberculosis using direct plating m ethods and/or cold enhancement techniques. Despite an intensive survei llance and adequate culture methods. Y. pseudotuberculosis was isolate d from stools of 0.05% (5, 9,720) of patients with acute enteritis, an d alimentary tracts of 0.1% (10/16,849) of apparently healthy animals. No Y. pseudotuberculosis strains were recovered from stools of 4,726 healthy controls nor from the appendices (656), mesenteric lymph nodes (84), and stools (421) of 656 patients operated for suspected appendi citis. Of the 10,842 food and 4,368 environmental samples, none yielde d positive cultures for Y. pseudotuberculosis.