12 research outputs found
Detection of enterotoxin A and cytotoxin B, and isolation of Clostridium difficile in piglets in Minas Gerais, Brazil
Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Resistance in Clostridium difficile With Special Reference to the Horse
Comparison of nasopharyngeal and guttural pouch specimens to determine the optimal sampling site to detect Streptococcus equi subsp equi carriers by DNA amplification
Risk of adverse effects in pneumonic foals treated with erythromycin versus other antibiotics: 143 cases (1986-1996)
Clostridium difficile infection in humans and piglets: A 'one health' opportunity
Clostridium difficile causes infectious diarrhoea in humans and animals. It has been found in both diarrhoeal and non-diarrhoeal pigs, horses and cattle, suggesting a potential reservoir for human insection, and in 20–40 % of meat products in Canada and the USA, suggesting the possibility, albeit not proven, of food-borne transmission. Although it is not yet completely clear, it is likely that excessive antimicrobial exposure is driving the establishment of C. difficile in animals, in a manner analogous to human infection, rather than the organism just being normal flora of the animal gastrointestinal tract. PCR ribotype 078 is the most common ribotype of C. difficile found in pigs (83 % in one study in the USA) and cattle (up to 100 %) and this ribotype is now the third most common ribotype of C. difficile found in human infection in Europe. Human and pig strains of C. difficile are genetically identical in Europe confirming that a zoonosis exists. Rates of community-acquired C. difficile infection (CDI) are increasing world wide, a fact that sits well with the notion that animals are a reservoir for human infection. Thus, there are three problems that require resolution: a human health issue, an animal health issue and the factor common to both these problems, environmental contamination. To successfully deal with these recent changes in the epidemiology of CDI will require a ‘one health’ approach involving human health physicians, veterinarians and environmental scientists