Enteropathogenicity and antimicrobial susceptibility of new Escherichia spp.

To determine the mechanizm of enteropathogenicity of the newely described E scherichia species, a total of 50 clinical isolates of Escherichia spp, fro m diarrhoeal stools were studied. Twelve isolates (24%) were found to be E. vulneris, 6 (12%) E. fergusonii, 2 (4%) E. hermannii, and the rest 30 (60% ) were E. coli, Most isolates of the new species were resistant to ampicill in, tetracycline, and co-trimoxazole, but were susceptible to cephalosporin s and aminoglycosides. The representative strains of all the new species pr oduced significant fluid accumulation in the rat heal loops both by live ce lls and their culture filtrates, E. vulneris, isolated from stools, showed maximum fluid accumulation. Thus, it can be inferred that these species are diarrhoeagenic, but their roles on extra-intestinal infections remain to b e determined.