Survival of rodent isolated Pasteurella pneumotropica, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in different types of water

genetically related to members of the genus Actinobacillus within the family Pasteurellaceae [9] which also comprises the genera Pasteurella and Haemophilus, is a nonmotile, nonhemolytic, facultatively anaerobic, gram-negative coccobacillus. Conventional methods for it’s detection are usually based upon bacteriological examinations that also help in distinguishing the two described biotypes of Jawetz and Heyl [6, 9]. It is ubiquitous in many colonies of mice, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, and rabbits, where it typically colonizes the upper respiratory tract, oral cavity, intestines, conjunctiva, urinary bladder, skin, mammary glands, and reproductive organs [7, 4]. Although the role of P. pneumotropica as a primary pathogen is uncertain, there is less ambiguity regarding its importance as an opportunist and/or secondary invader in many infections, such as pneumonia, conjunctivitis, metritis, cystitis, pleural abscesses, peritoneal abscesses, dermatitis, panophthalmitis, and orbital abscesses [14-16]. This bacterium has also been isolated from a few human cases of infection [10]. In laboratory animals, transmission which is frequent in such rodents is hypothesized to occur via direct and indirect contact but not via aerosols, and cesarean rederivation combined with barrier housing is considered to be the main means for eradication [4]. The fact that P. pneumotropica may be isolated from many sources especially from intestines specimens in such animals gives rise to questions about it’s ecology in contrast to other members of this genus which are strict inhabitants of the upper respiratory tract of mammalians and birds. This feature makes it closer to other bacterial genera such as Enterobacteriaceae or Pseudomonadaceae than to Pasteurella species sensu stricto. This observation led us to undertake studies about the resistance or the sensitivity of this bacterium in environmental sources in addition and comparison to other organisms such as Pseudomonas.