A STUDY OF THE INCIDENCE OF PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA FROM VARIOUS NATURAL SOURCES

Abstract

A new selective medium for the isolation of P. aeruginosa (described) was used in a study of the presence of this organism in various natural sources. It can be isolated consistently from sewage and from all parts of the sewage plant except the sludge digestors. Although only 11% of persons examined proved to be carriers, human f eces probably serve as the inoculum for sewage and should be considered a normal habitat. Few isolations were made from soil or samples taken from barnyards. Later attempted isolations from soils from which the organisms had been previously isolated were negative. It was shown that P. aeruginosa can produce acid from glucose, galactose, mannose, arabinose, and xylose if an agar slant is used instead of the usual liquid medium.