A study of enteropathogenic organisms isolated in the public health laboratory, Lusaka.

A total of 328 specimens of stools were examined in the Public Health Laboratory during January and February 1973. Enteropathogens were isolated from 117 of these specimens. Besides these, 12 strains of Salmonellae were isolated from blood and 8 from urine. An occasional Salmonella was isolated from the pleural fluid (S. paratyphi A) pus from the knee (S. enteritidis) and from the C.S.F. of an infant (S. paratyphi C.). Salmonella typhi and Salmonella paratyphi A are the predominant Salmonella species. No Salmonella paratyphi B has been isolated. Shigella, was isolated with slightly less frequency than Salmonella, and Shigella flexneriis was the predominant species. E. coli 0112/K66 is the most common enteropathogenic E. coli. The majority of the Shigella and Salmonella species are sensitive to the common antibiotics used. The E. coli organisms show multiple resistance to a number of antibiotics.