Cross-Sectional Study Reveals High Prevalence of Clostridium difficile Non-PCR Ribotype 078 Strains in Australian Veal Calves at Slaughter
ABSTRACTRecent reports in North America and Europe ofClostridium difficilebeing isolated from livestock and retail meats of bovine origin have raised concerns about the risk to public health. To assess the situation in Australia, we investigated the prevalence and genetic diversity ofC. difficilein adult cattle and calves at slaughter. Carcass washings, gastrointestinal contents, and feces were collected from abattoirs across five Australian states. Selective culture, toxin profiling, and PCR ribotyping were performed. The prevalence ofC. difficilewas 56% (203/360 samples) in feces from <7-day-old calves, 3.8% (1/26) in 2- to 6-month-old calves, and 1.8% (5/280) in adult cattle. Three PCR ribotypes (RTs), RT127, RT033, and RT126, predominated in <7-day-old calves and comprised 77.8% (158/203 samples) of isolates. RT056, which has not been reported in cattle before, was found in 16 <7-day-old calves (7.7%). Surprisingly, RT078 strains, which dominate production animal carriage studies in the Northern Hemisphere, were not isolated.