Isolation and Characterization of Clostridium difficile in Farm Animals from Slaughterhouse to Retail Stage in Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

To determine the prevalence of Clostridium difficile in farm animals from slaughterhouse through to retail stage, a total of 750 samples of feces, posteviscerated and washed carcass were collected from cattle, camels, goats, and sheep in Isfahan, Iran. The overall prevalence of C. difficile in feces, posteviscerated and washed carcass were 20 (13.3%), 23 (15.3%), and 11 (7.3%), respectively; while C. difficile was isolated from 79 (26.3%) retail samples. Twenty-nine (3.8%) isolates were toxigenic, with most toxigenic isolates (n = 17, 5.6%) identified from the retail stage. All toxigenic isolates harbored tcdA and tcdB; however, all were negative for cdtB. The 29 isolates were classified into 21 different ribotypes. This study revealed evidence of existence of toxigenic C. difficile in farm animal feces and meat in Iran.

Clostridium (Clostridioides) difficile in animals

“…There has been very little study of sheep and goats, although C. difficile has been identified in a small (2–9.5%) percentage of healthy individuals. 18,44,71,111 As with other species, the prevalence may be higher in young individuals. 71 Strain data are very limited, but a variety of strains have been reported, including strains that have been found in humans and other animal species (e.g., ribotypes 014, 010, 045).…”

Clostridioides difficile in Non-hospital Sources (Animals, Food, and Environment) in Asian Countries: A Literature Review

“…The result of this study indicated a high incidence of C. difficile with high antibiotic resistance to clindamycin (13). In another Iranian study performed on 150 fecal samples collected from camels, goats, sheep, and cows, the contamination rate of toxigenic C. difficile was 4% (14). Hussain et al, in a study conducted in India, reported the contamination with C. difficile in fecal samples collected from cattle, pigs, and poultry at 4.8%, 12.4%, and 13.9%, respectively (15).…”

“…A total of 79 (26.3%) samples were contaminated with C. difficile in the retail stage, with a higher rate in the ground form (9.3%) than in the chopped form (2%). Toxigenic isolates were found in 29 (3.8%) samples with 21 different ribotypes specified in Iran (14). The examination of C. difficile was reported in 659 colonic content of pigs at local slaughterhouses of six Korean provinces.…”

Raw Animal Meats as Potential Sources of Clostridium difficile in Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia

“…In the conducted study, the detected contamination level of raw animal meats by C. difficile was low (6.3 %). Many previous studies from different countries reported a contamination level of animal meats by C. difficile lower than 9% (Jöbstl et al 2010;De Boer et al 2011;Quesada-Gómez et al 2013;Esfandiari et al 2014a, Esfandiari et al 2014b, Rodriguez et al 2014Varshney et al 2014;Esfandiari et al 2015;Lund and Peck 2015;Bakri 2018).…”

“…In the conducted study, the detected contamination level of raw animal meats by C. difficile was low (6.3%). Many previous studies from different countries reported a contamination level of animal meats by C. difficile lower than 9% ( Bakri, 2018 ; de Boer et al, 2011 ; Esfandiari et al, 2014a , Esfandiari et al, 2014b , Esfandiari et al, 2015 ; Jöbstl et al, 2010 ; Lund and Peck, 2015 ; Quesada-Gómez et al, 2013 ; Rodriguez et al, 2014 ; Varshney et al, 2014 ). Contrary to these results, Bouttier et al (2010) in France and Pires et al (2018) in Brazil, reported that they did not detect any C. difficile isolate from 59 and 80 animal meat samples, respectively.…”