Diversity of Acinetobacter Species Isolated from Different Environments in Lebanon: A Nationwide Study

Abstract

Acinetobacter spp. were detected in 14% of environmental samples and 8% of food samples. Furthermore, 9% of animals and 3.4% of humans were colonized. Non-baumannii Acinetobacter were the most common species isolated and newly susceptible A. baumannii clones were detected. Interestingly, 21 isolates were not identified at the species level and were considered as putative novel species. To our knowledge, this is the largest epidemiological study investigating the epidemiology of Acinetobacter spp. outside hospitals.

Relatedness of wildlife and livestock avian isolates of the nosocomial pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii to lineages spread in hospitals worldwide

“…baumannii and A . pittii were isolated from water, sewage and soil samples and also from various animals at a rate up to 8%, notably from cow feces (Rafei et al ., ; Al Atrouni et al ., ). Also recently, raw meat samples in Switzerland were found to be contaminated with A .…”

“…However, A. baumannii strain SDF recovered from a human body louse represents an ecotype clearly distinct from clinical isolates (Vallenet et al, 2008;Peleg et al, 2009;Antunes et al, 2011). In recent studies on the environmental prevalence of Acinetobacter in Lebanon, A. baumannii and A. pittii were isolated from water, sewage and soil samples and also from various animals at a rate up to 8%, notably from cow feces (Rafei et al, 2015;Al Atrouni et al, 2016). Also recently, raw meat samples in Switzerland were found to be contaminated with A. baumannii at an overall rate of 25% (Lupo et al, 2014).…”

Acinetobacter spp in a Third World Country with Socio-economic and Immigrants Challenges

“…The wide distribution of Acinetobacter species in different environments is mostly due to their ability to withstand desiccation, starvation and to survive on inanimate surfaces [3]. The Acinetobacter genus involves pathogenic and non-pathogenic species with Acinetobacter baumannii being the most common one implicated in hospital acquired infections especially in immunocompromised patients and to a lesser extent in community acquired ones [4]. Genotypically speaking, international clones I and II dominate the nosocomial outbreaks caused by this species worldwide [5].…”

“…Genotypically speaking, international clones I and II dominate the nosocomial outbreaks caused by this species worldwide [5]. Besides A. baumannii, there are increasing reports worldwide, highlighting the clinical relevance of other species such as Acinetobacter pitii, Acinetobacter nosocomialis and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus [4]. These species are difficult to be differentiated using the classical biochemical identification methods [6].…”

“…Acinetobacter spp is increasingly implicated in veterinary medicine as an emerging pathogen; cases have been reported in Switzerland and Germany [8]. Asymptomatic carriage of A. baumannii was also reported in livestock, companion animals, lice and arthropods [4]. Other clinically important species including A. pittii, A. nosocomialis, A. calcoaceticus and Acinetobacter lwoffii were detected in vegetables and dairy products [9].…”