Pyocine typing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated in Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from clinical and environmental sources in Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, were pyocine typed using the indicator strains and the standardized method of Gillies & Govan. Out of 302 clinical isolates 9.6% were untypable and 3.6% were unclassifiable. Among typable isolates fourteen pyocine types were identified, types 1, 3, 11, 5, and 10 being the commonest. Among ninety-six environmental isolates types 1, 3 and 10 were most common, 18.7% were untypable and 3.1% were unclassifiable. Sink traps were environmental sites most frequently contaminated with Ps. aeruginosa. Out of ten pyocine types identified in environmental strains, eight were the same as those isolated from patients. Seven subtypes were found among the most commonly encountered pyocine type 1 isolates. The procedure is a simple and reliable method to study the epidemiology of infections due to Ps. aeruginosa.