Evaluation of Citrobacter freundii isolated in Najaf governorate as an enterotoxin producer

This study has been included 422 patients (202 male and 220 female), of which 282 stool samples and 140 urine samples were collected from children under six years of ages and 200 hospital environmental samples as well as 50 apparent healthy as control. Samples collected from three hospitals in Al-Najaf city (Al-Sadr Teaching, Al-Hakeem, and Al-Zahra Maternity and Children) during a period extended from July to October 2010. Only 11 isolates of (Citrobacter freundii) with percent 2.60% were isolated from all clinical samples, 8 isolates isolated from stool samples with percent 2.83% and 3 from urine samples with percent 2.14%, whereas no bacteria isolated from both control and hospital environmental samples. The Suckling Mice Assay (SMA) was applied to the 11 isolates of C. freundii, only 2 gave positive results. While Rabbit ligated ileal loop assay RIL, only 4 of the bacterial isolates gave a positive results.