Abstract
BackgroundDuring the Hajj season, respiratory symptoms are very common among pilgrims. Here, we investigated the viable bacterial population in air samples collected around the slaughterhouses used during the Hajj.Methods and resultsWe collected air samples on three days from four different sites: slaughterhouses at Al-Kakia, Al-Meaisim and Al-Sharaia, and from a waste disposal area designated for the remnants of slaughter. Samples were cultured on blood agar plates for 48 h, and bacterial isolates were identified using MALDI-TOF MS. A dendrogram using the spectra of the unidentified bacterial species was constructed, and PCR amplification and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene was performed for one isolate per cluster. In total, 2500 colonies appeared on the nutrient agar plates, and 244 were purified for further analysis. Good identification was obtained for 202 (83%) isolates by MALDI-TOF MS. The most common genera were Bacillus (n = 94, 45%) and Staphyloccocus (n = 55, 26%). Poor identification was obtained for 42 (17%) isolates, and their spectra clustering revealed that these isolates belonged to 10 species. Four of these were considered to be new species.ConclusionsDuring the Hajj, the air was contaminated by many environmental bacterial agents, and MALDI-TOF MS was successfully adapted for their rapid identification.
Highlights
During the Hajj season, respiratory symptoms are very common among pilgrims
RRNA gene [11] and we found that during the Hajj, the air was contaminated by many environmental bacterial agents and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (MS) was successfully used for the identification of airborne bacterial contaminants
We tested a large number of isolates from air samples, and we found that MALDI-TOF MS served as a useful tool for the identification of isolates at the species levels
Summary
During the Hajj season, respiratory symptoms are very common among pilgrims. During the Hajj season, respiratory symptoms are very common among pilgrims [2], and respiratory infections, led by pneumonia, are the most common cause of hospital. An outbreak of respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infections was reported in Saudi Arabia. The bacterial agents most commonly responsible for pneumonia at the Hajj are Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus pneumonia, Acinetobacter sp., Pseudomonas aeriginosa and Staphylococcus aureus [5,6]. Contaminated sheep waste that had been left uncovered around slaughterhouses was associated with outbreaks of airborne disease in France [7,8]. Q fever outbreaks have been associated with airborne transmission from contaminated wastes [7,8]
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