outbreak of acute gastroenteritis due to Aeromonas sobria in Benghazi, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

We report an outbreak of acute diarrhoea due to Aeromonas sobria in Benghazi which occurred during a 1-month period in 1997. Of 69 patients admitted with acute gastroenteritis, 28 were positive for A. sobria based on the production of gas from glucose, the production of acetoin, hydrogen sulfide and lysine decarboxylase and on aesculin hydrolysis and fermentation of arabinose and salicin. The strains were sensitive to chloramphenicol, co-trimoxazole, tetracycline and gentamicin but resistant to ampicillin and carbenicillin. We were unable to trace the source of the infection