J Korean Med Sci.  2003 Jun;18(3):425-428. 10.3346/jkms.2003.18.3.425.

Molecular Relatedness between Isolates Yersinia pseudotuberculosis from a Patient and an Isolate from Mountain Spring Water

• Han TH
• Paik IK
• Kim SJ

• KMID: 2157662
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2003.18.3.425

Abstract

A 40-yr-old buddhist monk was admitted to the hospital with abdominal pain, fever, and confusion. He had a history of drinking untreated mountain spring water in his temple, and experienced the above symptoms for several days before admission. In past medical history, he had suffered from hepatic cirrhosis. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis was isolated from his blood and ascitic fluid. The mountain spring water that he had ingested was cultivated and Y. pseudotuberculosis was also isolated. For identification of pathogenic Y. pseudotuberculosis, each isolate from the three sources (blood, ascitic fluid, and drinking water) was also analysed for the inv gene for Y. pseudotuberculosis and the virF gene for virulent plasmid by PCR. All strains were positive for both the virF and the inv genes and also positive for autoagglutination test. For relationship study, each isolate from the three sources was also analysed with serotyping and restriction endonuclease analysis of virulence plasmid DNA (REAP) using BamHI. All belonged to the serotype 4b and REAP pattern D. Thus, all these findings supported that the mountain spring water was the source of the Y. pseudotuberculosis infection in this case.

Keyword

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Infections; Bacteremia; Epidemiology, Molecular

MeSH Terms

Adhesins, Bacterial/genetics
Adult
Agglutination Tests
Bacterial Proteins/genetics
DNA, Bacterial/analysis
Feces/microbiology
Food
Human
Male
Plasmids
Restriction Mapping
Septicemia/diagnosis/microbiology
Serotyping
Virulence Factors/genetics
*Water Supply
Yersinia pseudotuberculosis/classification/*genetics/isolation & purification
Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Infections/*diagnosis/*transmission