The occurrence of cytotoxic Aeromonas hydrophila strains in Italian mineral and thermal waters.

Bacteria of the genus Aeromonas are ubiquitous in aquatic environments, including mineral drinking and thermal waters. Motile species are related to different diseases, mostly gastrointestinal disorders. Criteria for Aeromonas pathogenicity in humans and animals are still unclear and neither is the relationship between production virulence and pathogenicity factors. In the present study, strains of Aeromonas hydrophila, from 61 samples of bottled mineral waters and 23 thermal Italian sources have been isolated and identified by biochemical tests, for toxicity and detection of the aerolysin gene by the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Six strains were isolated from the mineral waters and were found to be cytotoxic and in possession of the aerolysin gene. For the twelve strains isolated from thermal waters, seven were cytotoxic and eleven contained the aerolysin gene.