Incidence of Klebsiella species in surface waters and their expression of virulence factors

To investigate the occurrence of different Klebsiella spp. in aquatic envir onments, a total of 208 samples of natural surface waters was examined. Fro m half (53%) of these samples, 123 Klebsiella strains were isolated, the mo st common species being Klebsiella pneumoniae. A comparison of these isolat es to a group of 207 clinical ii. pneumoniae isolates demonstrated that wat er isolates of K. pneumoniae, unlike those of K. oxytoca and K. planticola, are as capable as clinical isolates of expressing putative virulence facto rs such as serum resistance and capsular polysaccharides, pill, and siderop hores.