Isolation of Cronobacter spp. (formerly Enterobacter sakazakii) from nostrils of healthy stable horse--short communication.

: Cronobacter spp. belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae. It is a motile (peritricha) Gram-negative non-spore forming bacterium. At present, Enterobacter sakazakii is reported as a Cronobacter spp. species with 16 biogroups. It is a ubiquitous organism whose isolation used to be associated with a contaminated powdered infant formula and feed for neonates and infants. Information about the Cronobacter spp. species incidence in the environment, its potential dissemination and its vectors, is very limited. The authors have documented incidence of Cronobacter spp. in the nostril mucous membrane of a healthy stabled horse. The above points out at the absolutely insufficient and unsystematic information about the dissemination of the Cronobacter spp. strain in the environment of animals and the people who are in contact with them.