[Identification of aeromonads from water sources]

A total of 102 Aeromonas strains isolated from water were identified by both commercial ENTEROtest 1 & 2 kits and by several conventional tests. 83 strains (81.4%) were identified to the species level according to a differentiation table. A. hydrophila (36 strains), A. caviae (26 strains) and A. sobria (10 strains) species were isolated most frequently. Strains identified as A. allosaccharophila, A. eucrenophila, A. jandaei, A. media and A. trota were very rare. The remaining 19 strains could not be identified. The ENTEROtest kit without additional tube test was insufficient for the identification of Aeromonas strains to the species level. The arginine dihydrolase test and hydrolysis of esculin from the ENTEROtest kit were found to be the least reliable tests.