Highly Divergent Clostridium difficile Strains Isolated from the Environment.

Clostridium difficile is one of the most important human and animal pathogens. However, the bacterium is ubiquitous and can be isolated from various sources. Here we report the prevalence and characterization of C.

Sporulation properties and antimicrobial susceptibility in endemic and rare Clostridium difficile PCR ribotypes.

Increased sporulation and antibiotic resistance have been proposed to be associated with certain Clostridium difficile epidemic strains such as PCR ribotype 027. In this study we examined these properties in another widespread PCR ribotype, 014/020, in comparison to prevalent PCR ribotype 002 and a group of rarely represented PCR ribotypes. Highest sporulation was observed in 014/020 strains at 24 h, while after 72 h PCR ribotype 002 and rare PCR ribotypes formed higher total number of spores.

International Clostridium difficile animal strain collection and large diversity of animal associated strains.

Background: Clostridium difficile is an important cause of intestinal infections in some animal species and animals might be a reservoir for community associated human infections. Here we describe a collection of animal associated C. difficile strains from 12 countries based on inclusion criteria of one strain (PCR ribotype) per animal species per laboratory.

Different antibiotic resistance and sporulation properties within multiclonal Clostridium difficile PCR ribotypes 078, 126, and 033 in a single calf farm.

Clostridium difficile strains were sampled periodically from 50 animals at a single veal calf farm over a period of 6 months. At arrival, 10% of animals were C. difficile positive, and the peak incidence was determined to occur at the age of 18 days (16%).

Clostridium difficile genotypes other than ribotype 078 that are prevalent among human, animal and environmental isolates.

Background: Characterising the overlap of C. difficile genotypes in different reservoirs can improve our understanding of possible transmission routes of this pathogen. Most of the studies have focused on a comparison of the PCR ribotype 078 isolated from humans and animals.

Comparison of two commercial molecular tests for the detection of Clostridium difficile in the routine diagnostic laboratory.

Two commercial real-time PCR assays for the detection of Clostridium difficile, BD GeneOhm Cdiff assay (BD Diagnostics) and Xpert C. difficile assay (Cepheid), were compared to each other and to toxigenic culture, which was used as a gold standard, on a set of 194 clinical stools submitted for routine diagnostic analysis. Of 28 (14.

The occurrence and high diversity of Clostridium difficile genotypes in rivers.

Clostridium difficile is mainly associated with nosocomial infections but can be present also in other environments. In this study we compared three methods (culturing with and without ethanol shock and real-time PCR) for detection of C. difficile in water and have used them on a series of river water samples.

Diversity of Clostridium difficile in pigs and other animals in Slovenia.

A study of Clostridium difficile diversity in pigs, calves and horses in Slovenia was conducted. A total of 547 samples were collected and C. difficile was isolated from 247/485 (50.

High diversity of Clostridium difficile genotypes isolated from a single poultry farm producing replacement laying hens.

Clostridium difficile is well established as a pathogen of horses, calves, and pigs, but little is known about its prevalence in poultry. In this study, chicken fecal samples were collected on four occasions from two populations being raised as layer replacements. Samples were examined by an enrichment culture method, and 38 of 61 (62.