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The aim of this study was the assessment of bioaerosols in different indoor environments. The study was performed using volumetric culture plate air sampling to determine the concentration of viable bioaerosols. The results revealed that 60.9% of air samples from public places and all air samples collected in food processing plants had unacceptable levels of micro-organisms. This was based on a suggested standard which proposes that concentrations of viable micro-organisms should be no higher than 300 CFU · m-3. More detailed study of the bioaerosols collected showed that the main parameters of interest for indoor air quality were fungi and further characterization allowed identification of the genera present in a particular place. Acceptable indoor air quality, by the above standard, was found at a university faculty, in a fast food restaurant, a cultural centre, a health centre and a hospital, while it was not acceptable in meat-, mustard-, olive- and infant food-processing plants because the concentrations of moulds were higher than 150 CFU· m -3 and the predominant genus identified was Penicillium.

Aim To investigate genetic diversity and specificity of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli strains isolated from humans, retail poultry meat, and live farm chickens in Zenica-Doboj Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and identify the role of poultry meat in sporadic Campylobacter infections.Methods We determined the type of Campylobacter species using standard microbiological methods and multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and performed pulsed field gel-electrophoresis (PFGE) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) typing of the flaA gene to investigate genetic diversity among the isolates.Results We isolated C jejuni and C coli from 75 (5.2%) of 1453 samples of consecutive outpatients with sporadic diarrhea; from 51 (34.7%) of 147 samples of poultry meat; and from 15 out of 23 farm chicken samples. The proportion of C coli found among human (30.1%), poultry meat (56.9%), and farm chicken isolates (53.3%), was greater than the proportion of C jejuni. Fourteen and 24 PFGE genotypes were identified among 20 C coli and 37 C jejuni isolates, respectively. Identical PFGE genotypes were found in two cases of human and poultry meat isolates and two cases of poultry meat and farm chicken isolates.Conclusion Only a minority of human Campylobacter isolates shared identical PFGE type with poultry meat isolates. Although poultry is the source of a certain number of human infections, there may be other more important sources. Further research is required to identify the environmental reservoir of Campylobacter spp responsible for causing human disease and the reason for the high prevalence of C coli human infections in this region.

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