Are migrants from Middle East carriers of multi-resistant bacteria?

Background: In 2015 about 1.2 million migrants via the Balkan Route (Greece to Austria and Germany) and about 250,000 migrants via the Sicily (Lampedusa) Malta Route entered the EU. Patients: Among 544,310 migrants in our field hospitals and checkpoints (Austria, Slovenia, and Greece) from Sept. 2015 to June 2016, bacterial isolates from patients with respiratory symptoms were obtained and 209 isolates were tested with available antibiotics. Results: Only 4 Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus MRSA (4%) and 1 Penicillin Resistant Pneumococcus PRP we isolated from migrants with symptomatic respiratory infections. Conclusions: Our small research compared to our expectations did not find any major resistance patterns colonizing or infecting migrants coming to the EU via the Balkan route from Syria, Iraq via Greece to Austria and Germany.