Apparent outbreaks of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea in horses in a veterinary medical teaching hospital.
Abstract: Intestinal colonization with toxigenic strains of Clostridium difficile was documented in 9 of 10 horses with acute onset diarrhea in a veterinary medical teaching hospital, whereas a similar isolate was detected in only 1 of 23 other horses without diarrhea in the hospital. One horse with diarrhea was infected simultaneously with both C. difficile and Salmonella krefeld. Clostridium difficile was detected by fecal culture on selective medium, confirmed with a latex particle agglutination test, and identified as toxigenic by polymerase chain reaction amplification of toxin A and toxin B gene sequences. Using an arbitrarily-primed polymerase chain reaction, 6 distinct C. difficile isolates were detected in the feces of the 9 affected horses at the time of the outbreak of diarrhea.
Publication Date: 1995-07-01 PubMed ID: 7578449DOI: 10.1177/104063879500700308Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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This research article focuses on the dramatic increase in instances of diarrhea in horses caused by toxigenic strains of Clostridium difficile in a veterinary medical teaching hospital.
Context and Objective
- The research was conducted in a veterinary medical teaching hospital, which witnessed a sudden increase in horses suffering from acute diarrhea.
- The primary goal of the study was to investigate whether there was a correlation between the sharp rise of diarrhea instances in horses and the colonization of toxigenic strains of Clostridium difficile, a bacterial species commonly linked to similar gastroenteric ailments.
Methodology
- A total of 33 horses were involved in the study, out of which 10 had experienced acute onset diarrhea, and 23 hadn’t.
- The researchers used fecal culture on a selective medium to detect the presence of C. difficile in the horses.
- Once detected, the presence of C. difficile was then confirmed through a latex particle agglutination test, a standard process used to establish the presence of particular bacteria.
- Furthermore, the toxigenic nature of the C. difficile bacteria was verified by using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) process to amplify toxin A and toxin B gene sequences, both of which are indicative of a toxigenic strain.
Findings
- The research found that out of the 10 horses with acute diarrhea, 9 of them were colonized by the toxigenic strains of C. difficile. This suggests a strong correlation between C. difficile infection and acute diarrhea in horses.
- Among the 23 horses without diarrhea present in the hospital during the same period, only one had a similar isolate, reinforcing the correlation.
- One horse was found to be infected concurrently with C. difficile and Salmonella krefeld, another bacteria known to cause diarrhea in horses.
- Through the PCR, 6 distinct isolates of C. difficile were detected in the feces of the 9 affected horses, indicating a diverse bacterial presence.
Implications
- These findings highlight a potential health concern for horses, with intestinal colonization of toxigenic strains of C. difficile possibly causing acute onset diarrhea.
- Further investigation is suggested to scrutinize preventative measures, potential treatments, and implications for the broader health of horses.
Cite This Article
APA
Madewell BR, Tang YJ, Jang S, Madigan JE, Hirsh DC, Gumerlock PH, Silva J.
(1995).
Apparent outbreaks of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea in horses in a veterinary medical teaching hospital.
J Vet Diagn Invest, 7(3), 343-346.
https://doi.org/10.1177/104063879500700308 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis 95616, USA.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- California
- Clostridioides difficile / classification
- Clostridioides difficile / isolation & purification
- Diarrhea / epidemiology
- Diarrhea / microbiology
- Diarrhea / veterinary
- Disease Outbreaks / veterinary
- Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / diagnosis
- Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / epidemiology
- Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / veterinary
- Horse Diseases
- Horses
- Hospitals, Animal
- Hospitals, Teaching
- Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods
Citations
This article has been cited 16 times.- Uzal FA, Navarro MA, Asin J, Henderson EE. Clostridial Diseases of Horses: A Review. Vaccines (Basel) 2022 Feb 17;10(2).
- Hain-Saunders NMR, Knight DR, Bruce M, Riley TV. Clostridioides difficile infection and One Health: an equine perspective. Environ Microbiol 2022 Mar;24(3):985-997.
- Uzal FA, Arroyo LG, Navarro MA, Gomez DE, Asín J, Henderson E. Bacterial and viral enterocolitis in horses: a review. J Vet Diagn Invest 2022 May;34(3):354-375.
- Kopper JJ, Willette JA, Kogan CJ, Seguin A, Bolin SR, Schott HC 2nd. Detection of pathogens in blood or feces of adult horses with enteric disease and association with outcome of colitis. J Vet Intern Med 2021 Sep;35(5):2465-2472.
- Weese JS, Slovis N, Rousseau J. Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile in neonatal foals and mares at a referral hospital. J Vet Intern Med 2021 Mar;35(2):1140-1146.
- Lindroth KM, Dicksved J, Pelve E, Båverud V, Müller CE. Faecal bacterial composition in horses with and without free faecal liquid: a case control study. Sci Rep 2021 Feb 26;11(1):4745.
- Wojtacka J, Wysok B, Kocuvan A, Rupnik M. High contamination rates of shoes of veterinarians, veterinary support staff and veterinary students with Clostridioides difficile spores. Transbound Emerg Dis 2022 Mar;69(2):685-693.
- Weese JS. Clostridium (Clostridioides) difficile in animals. J Vet Diagn Invest 2020 Mar;32(2):213-221.
- Love MJ, Bhandari D, Dobson RCJ, Billington C. Potential for Bacteriophage Endolysins to Supplement or Replace Antibiotics in Food Production and Clinical Care. Antibiotics (Basel) 2018 Feb 27;7(1).
- Botha M, Botes M, Loos B, Smith C, Dicks LM. Lactobacillus equigenerosi strain Le1 invades equine epithelial cells. Appl Environ Microbiol 2012 Jun;78(12):4248-55.
- Dubberke ER, Haslam DB, Lanzas C, Bobo LD, Burnham CA, Gröhn YT, Tarr PI. The ecology and pathobiology of Clostridium difficile infections: an interdisciplinary challenge. Zoonoses Public Health 2011 Feb;58(1):4-20.
- Weese JS, Armstrong J. Outbreak of Clostridium difficile-associated disease in a small animal veterinary teaching hospital. J Vet Intern Med 2003 Nov-Dec;17(6):813-6.
- Keir AA, Stämpfli HR, Crawford J. Outbreak of acute colitis on a horse farm associated with tetracycline-contaminated sweet feed. Can Vet J 1999 Oct;40(10):718-20.
- Borges AS, Zakia LS, Yu S, Surette MG, Arroyo LG. Isolation of Clostridioides difficile from a Large Animal Veterinary Teaching Hospital Environment. Animals (Basel) 2025 Sep 15;15(18).
- Haywood LMB, Sheahan BJ. A Review of Epithelial Ion Transporters and Their Roles in Equine Infectious Colitis. Vet Sci 2024 Oct 7;11(10).
- Thanissery R, McLaren MR, Rivera A, Reed AD, Betrapally NS, Burdette T, Winston JA, Jacob M, Callahan BJ, Theriot CM. Clostridioides difficile carriage in animals and the associated changes in the host fecal microbiota. Anaerobe 2020 Dec;66:102279.
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