Military medicine
-
This study investigated the microbial causes of diarrheal disease among U. S. troops deployed near Alexandria, Egypt, during October 1995. Bacterial causes associated with 19 cases of diarrhea included: enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), 42% (21% heat-stable, 11% heat-labile, and 11% heat-stable/ heat-labile producers); enteropathogenic E. coli (5.3%); and enteroadherent E. coli (42%). ⋯ Shigella, Aeromonas, Plesiomonas, Vibrio, Campylobacter, and Salmonella were not detected. Of the eight ETEC cases, one was colonization factor antigen (CFA)/I only, one was both CFA/I and CFA/III, three were CFA/II, two were CFA/IV, and two were CFA-negative. Antibiograms of the ETEC and enteroadherent E. coli strains showed that all isolates were susceptible to norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and nalidixic acid but resistant to ampicillin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, and sulfamethoxazole.