Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infection had been reported in mountainous area of Japan and named as Izumi fever, and untreated drinking water was one of main source of this infection. Seoul, the capital city of Korea is now heavily populated and
there is
increased concern of environmental pollution. Some people is afraid of drinking tap water because of possible water pollution in Han river, the main sourse of tap water in Seoul. Many people go to mountains to get their drinking water from
springs
thinking that mountain spring water might be free from pollution.
More than 140 patients who were clinically suspected as yersiniosis visited Sanggye Paik hospital in May, June, July, and November, 1993, which is located at northeastern part of Seoul near mountainous area. Y . pseudotuberculosis infection was
confirmed by stool culture in 15 pediatric patients using cefsulodin irgasan novobiocin (CIN) agar as the selective media. Analysis of serogroups showed that 5 strains belonged to group 4, 19 group 5, one group 6, and one was unknown. All
patients
had
history of drinking untreated cold water from springs in mountainous area several days prior to the onset of symptoms.
We successfully isolated Y . pseudotuberculosis from 2 spring waters among 21 of suspicious mountain springs at different locations using filtration and culture technique after KOH treatment.
We think that untreated spring water is one of the main sources of sporadic Y . pseudotuberculosis infection in Seoul and children should not drink untreated spring water to eradicate this water borne infectious disease.
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