Studies on Yersiniosis in Human and Selected Animal Populations in Jos and its Environs

ABSTRACT

Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis are important food and water-borne pathogens that have recently emerged worldwide.

This study was aimed at characterizing the prevalence of Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis in human and selected animal populations in Jos and its environment.

Three thousand stool samples from human and selected animal species from 5 different locations in Jos and its environs were surveyed over a period of three years.

Human samples were made up of an equal number of 750 apparently healthy individuals and 750 diarrhoeic subjects. The samples were analyzed bacteriologically for the presence of Yersinia species using appropriate culture methods and selected molecular techniques.

Presumptive identification was made based on the characteristic morphological appearances of the colonies. No pathogen was recorded among the healthy subjects indicating that there are no asymptomatic patients of Yersinia in Jos.

Of the seven hundred and fifty (750) diarrhoeic patients screened, (46)6.1% were positive for Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. Among the positive subjects were 13 who had undergone appendectomy previously.

The total percentage of occurrence of the Yersinia organisms among males and females were (21) 2.8% and (25) 3.3% respectively. Of the 1500 animal samples screened, (749) 49.9% were found infected with Y. enterocolitica   (532)   35.4%   and   Y.   pseudotuberculosis   (217)   14.5%).

High occurrence rate was recorded in pigs (271) 18.1%, followed by Sheep (189) 12.6%,poultry (163) 10.9%,  and Dogs  (126)  8.4%.  High prevalence  rate  was recorded in Vom (231) 15.4%, Bukuru (182) 12.1%, and Bassa (128) 8.5%.

INTRODUCTION

Background of Study

The term refers to infections caused by either Yersinia or Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (Aleksic and Bockemuhl, 1990; Iwata et al, 2005), which appear as enteritis and sometimes septicemia in humans and animals (Mair, 1973; Hurvell, 1981).

The genus Yersinia is classified into the family which is a group of gram-negative oxidase negative and facultatively nonsporulating anaerobes with optimal growth at 27°C (Iwobi, 2003), and includes species with different degrees of pathogenicity (Boyd and Cornelis, 2001;Thoerner et al, 2003).

Based on differentiating biochemical traits, 11 species, have been identified to date, which is further divided into different biotypes.

Typically, the serotypes are linked to geographical , the severity of human disease, and animal reservoir (Salyers and Whitt, 1994; Boyd and Cornelis, 2001).

The three species of Yersinia that cause disease in humans and animals include Yersinia enterocolitica, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, and Yersinia pestis (Bercovier et al, 1984b; Aleksic et al, 1987; Wauters et al, 1988b; Bronfin, 2002).

These three pathogenic species differ considerably in invasiveness; while Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis can cross the gastrointestinal mucosa to infect underlying tissues, Y.

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