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Prevalence of Salmonella enterica on a Danish pig farm presenting recurrent infections was investigated. A comparison of the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns of fecal isolates from piggeries, waste slurry, and agricultural soil amended with Salmonella-contaminated animal waste (slurry) and subclinical isolates from the same farm (collected in 1996 and later) showed identical patterns, indicating long-term persistence of the Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium DT12 clone in the herd environment. Furthermore, when Salmonellacontaminated slurry was disposed of on the agricultural soil (a common waste disposal practice), the pathogen was isolated up to 14 days after the spread, indicating potentially high risks of transmission of the pathogen in the environment, animals, and humans.

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Aeromonas hydrophila strains isolated from the same geographical region (southern Italy) but from different sources (sea sediments and human diarrhea cases) were characterized for the production of potential virulence determinants, such as production of cytotoxins, cytotonic toxins, hemolysin, and dermonecrotic factors and their capacity to adhere to human intestinal 407 cells in vitro. The results showed that isolates from both the sources produced all or some of the virulence factors which may be involved in the pathogenesis of Aeromonas-associated infections. Our study indicates that further epidemiological studies are necessary to elucidate the public health significance of infections caused by Aeromonas spp. Aeromonas spp. are commonly found in a wide range of aquatic systems and foods and have been isolated from coastal waters, lakes, rivers, drinking water, and a variety of foods (2, 3, 7, 14). These species have long been known to cause different infections in poikilothermic animals such as fish, reptiles, and amphibians (1, 26, 28). Only in recent years has the clinical importance of motile Aeromonas isolates been recognized (19). These pathogens have been associated with several categories of human infections, such as gastroenteritis, peritonitis, endocarditis, meningitis, septicemia, and urinary tract and wound infections (10). Various putative virulence factors have been ascribed to Aeromonas spp. to explain the process of pathogenicity of these organisms. Such factors include the production of exotoxins