Nationwide Surveillance Study of Clostridium difficile in Australian Neonatal Pigs Shows High Prevalence and Heterogeneity of PCR Ribotypes |
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| Authors: | Daniel R Knight Michele M Squire Thomas V Riley |
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| Institution: | aMicrobiology & Immunology, School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia;bDepartment of Microbiology, PathWest Laboratory Medicine, Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia |
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| Abstract: | Clostridium difficile is an important enteric pathogen of humans and the cause of diarrhea and enteritis in neonatal pigs. Outside Australia, prevalence in piglets can be up to 73%, with a single PCR ribotype (RT), 078, predominating. We investigated the prevalence and genotype of C. difficile in Australian pig herds. Rectal swabs (n = 229) were collected from piglets aged <7 days from 21 farms across Australia. Selective culture for C. difficile was performed and isolates characterized by PCR for toxin genes and PCR ribotyping. C. difficile was isolated from 52% of samples by direct culture on chromogenic agar and 67% by enrichment culture (P = 0.001). No association between C. difficile recovery or genotype and diarrheic status of either farm or piglets was found. The majority (87%; 130/154) of isolates were toxigenic. Typing revealed 23 different RTs, several of which are known to cause disease in humans, including RT014, which was isolated most commonly (23%; 36/154). RT078 was not detected. This study shows that colonization of Australian neonatal piglets with C. difficile is widespread in the herds sampled. |
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