In addition, dogs, sheep, wild rodents, and environmental water may also be a reservoir of pathogenic Y. enterocolitica strains.

[5] Y. enterocolitica strains can be identified through the use of stool samples being grown on MacConkey plates and Yersinia Selective Agar.

On Yersinia Selective Agar plates Y. enterocolitica produces 1.5mm colonies with a dark pink center and translucent border.

[8] Acute Y. enterocolitica infections usually lead to mild, self-limiting enterocolitis or terminal ileitis and adenitis in humans.

Yersiniosis symptoms may include watery or bloody diarrhea and fever, resembling appendicitis, salmonellosis, or shigellosis.

For sepsis or severe focal infections, especially if associated with immunosuppression, the recommended regimen includes doxycycline in combination with an aminoglycoside.

[15] Y. enterocolitica is probably not a major cause of this disease, but may contribute to the development of thyroid autoimmunity arising for other reasons in genetically susceptible individuals.

[16] Y. enterocolitica infection has also been suggested to be not the cause of autoimmune thyroid disease, but rather an associated condition, with both sharing a common inherited susceptibility.