Prevalence of unique Yersinia enterocolitica in the area of the Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, N.Y.

The incidence of infection due to Yersinia enterocolitica is unknown in the United States as well as in a given geographic locale such as New York City. Comparison of 10 Y. enterocolitica strains recovered at nine hospitals in the New York City area to 22 isolated at The Mount Sinai Hospital revealed striking differences in clinical presentation of disease, biochemical behavior of the isolates and their serological profiles. The 10 strains were from patients with 'classical syndromes', were biochemically typical and of a serological profile (0:1 or 0:2, 0:5, 0:8) known to produce these syndromes in the United States. The 22 Mount Sinai isolates were isolated from patients with milder infections, were biochemically atypical, and contained serotypes (0:17, 0:16, 0:12) seldom associated with human infections.