Introduction: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an ubiquitous bacterium causes various community-acquired and nosocomial infections. In this investigation, we aimed to screen the antibiotic susceptibility patterns and the prevalence of virulence factor genes in a set of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from nosocomial and community-acquired infections in the Northwestern of Morocco. Methodology: A total of 155 of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains were collected (January 2015 - December 2016) from nosocomial and community-acquired infections at hospital centers and clinical laboratories in the Northwestern of Morocco. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed by the standard disk diffusion method. In addition, PCR assays were used for screening five virulence encoding genes (lasB, algD, plcH, exoA, and exoS). Results: Our results revealed that high level of antimicrobial resistance was detected towards aztreonam (27.1%) followed by meropenem (14.2%). The resistance to imipenem was significantly higher in strains isolated from nosocomial infections (12.7%) than strains isolated from community-acquired infections (1.5%). The results highlighted that lasB (98.7%) and exoS (98.7%) were the most frequent virulence genes. Conclusions: This survey provides data about phenotypic and genotypic properties of Pseudomonas aeruginosa emerged in the Northwestern of Morocco. It could be helpful for the health workers to improve infection control measures and to establish a surveillance system.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate Salmonella Enteritidis strains isolated from human and food sources in the north of Morocco by means of phenotypic and genotypic methods. Methodology: Fifteen isolates from humans and food were submitted to phage typing, XbaI-macrorestriction (pulsed field gel electrophoresis [PFGE]), enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC-PCR), antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and PCR assay targeting the spvR and invA genes. Results: Six fingerprinting profiles were obtained with the ERIC-PCR method, four with PFGE profiling, five with antimicrobial resistance, three with phage typing, and only one with plasmid profiling. spvR gene was detected in six strains, which did not harbour plasmids of 90 kb. Conclusions: The conclusions of this study are drawn from a limited number of isolates. It would be desirable to investigate a greater and more diverse population of Salmonella isolates. S. Enteritidis was genotyped and showed four different patterns by PFGE and six by ERIC-PCR. Accordingly, high genetic similarity and limited genetic diversity were found for these strains from north of Morocco.

Introduction: Staphylococcus aureus is a major foodborne pathogen that poses a serious threat to public health. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics increases evolution of antibiotic resistant strains. This study aimed to determine the presence of Staphylococcus aureus in milk and milk products and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. Methods: A total of 334 samples were collected for analysis in the laboratories. To determine antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, selected antibiotics from different classes were used: Penicillin G, Erythromycin, Vancomycin, Chloramphenicol, Tetracycline, Gentamycin, Methicillin, and Cipro oxacin. Results: The presence of S. aureus in milk and milk products was found occurring in 21.56% of all the samples. In raw milk analyzed, 64.81% of samples were contaminated by Staphylococcus aureus, 20.54% in pasteurized milk, 10.71% in yogurt, and 3.57% in ice cream. All isolates were found to be 100 % sensitive to Tetracycline, Cipro oxacin, Erythromycin, and Methicillin. Infrequent sensitivity was found in Gentamicin and Vancomycin. Resistance to Penicillin G was occasionally observed across the different sources of milk and milk products. Resistance to Gentamicin (42 %) and Vancomycin (11 %) was seldom observed in isolates, hence occurring in yogurt samples only. Conclusion and Recommendation: The research hypothesis was rejected based on the presence of pathogenic Staphylococcus aureus across the different samples analyzed. It is recommended that Tetracycline, Cipro oxacin, Methicillin, and Erythromycin antibiotics should be used for the treatment of Staphylococcus aureus infections based on the susceptibility test outcome.

Objectives: The objective of this investigation was to assess the methods for the characterization of Salmonella isolates and to identify relationships of Salmonella isolates from human and food sources in northern Morocco. Methodology: Several Salmonella serotypes were isolated from human and food samples and were characterized using conventional culture methods, biochemical, serological, antimicrobial testing, and phage typing. Molecular analyses such as enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR, macrorestriction profiling by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and virulence gene analysis were also performed. Results: Sixteen Salmonella strains were isolated in our laboratory, serotyped and identified as S.

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