1. Abstract 2. Introduction 3. Phenotypic techniques 3.1. Serotype analysis 3.2. Biotype and phage type analysis 3.3. Antibiotic susceptibility patterns 4. Genotypic techniques 4.1. Plasmid analysis 4.2. Chromosomal restriction fragment analysis and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) 4.3. Chromosomal restriction-hybridization techniques 4.3.1. Ribotype analysis 4.3.2. IS200 4.4. Locus-spec...