Radioimmunoassay for Clostridium perfringens Enterotoxin and Its Use in Screening Isolates Implicated in Food-Poisoning Outbreaks.

Fourteen isolates of Clostridium perfringens obtained from food-poisoning outbreaks were screened for enterotoxigenicity using a radioimmunoassay (RIA) that detects 1.0 ng of enterotoxin/ml. Only four of the isolates produced enterotoxin in concentrations too low to be detected by counterimmunoelectrophoresis when grown in Duncan-Strong sporulation (D-S) medium.