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Veterinary microbiology2014; 172(1-2); 309-317; doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2014.05.013

Carriage and acquisition rates of Clostridium difficile in hospitalized horses, including molecular characterization, multilocus sequence typing and antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial isolates.

Abstract: Clostridium difficile has been identified as a significant agent of diarrhoea and enterocolitis in both foals and adult horses. Hospitalization, antibiotic therapy or changes in diet may contribute to the development of C. difficile infection. Horses admitted to a care unit are therefore at greater risk of being colonized. The aim of this study was to investigate the carriage of C. difficile in hospitalized horses and the possible influence of some risk factors in colonization. During a seven-month period, faecal samples and data relating the clinical history of horses admitted to a veterinary teaching hospital were collected. C. difficile isolates were characterized through toxin profiles, cytotoxicity activity, PCR-ribotyping, antimicrobial resistance and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Ten isolates were obtained with a total of seven different PCR-ribotypes, including PCR-ribotype 014. Five of them were identified as toxinogenic. A high resistance to gentamicin, clindamycin and ceftiofur was found. MLST revealed four different sequencing types (ST), which included ST11, ST26, ST2 and ST15, and phylogenetic analysis showed that most of the isolates clustered in the same lineage. Clinical history suggests that horses frequently harbour toxigenic and non-toxigenic C. difficile and that in most cases they are colonized regardless of the reason for hospitalization; the development of diarrhoea is more unusual.
Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Publication Date: 2014-05-13 PubMed ID: 24894133DOI: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2014.05.013Google Scholar: Lookup
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  • Non-U.S. Gov't

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

This research presents a detailed study on the carriage and acquisition rates of a bacterium known as Clostridium difficile in hospitalized horses. The study also investigates risk factors contributing to the colonization of this bacterium, its molecular characterization, sequence typing and response to antimicrobial drugs.

Research Details

  • This study primarily explored the presence of a bacterial specie, named Clostridium difficile, amongst horses that were admitted to a veterinary teaching hospital. This bacterium is known for causing diarrhoea and enterocolitis in both foals and adults. Factors such as changes in diet, antibiotic therapy, and the hospitalization itself can possibly trigger infection.
  • Over a course of seven months, the team conducted the study by collecting faecal samples along with clinical history data from the admitted horses.
  • The collected C. difficile isolates were thoroughly characterized using several techniques. These techniques included identifying toxin profiles, determining cytotoxicity activity, PCR-ribotyping, testing antimicrobial resistance, and multilocus sequence typing (MLST).

Research Outcomes

  • The study resulted in ten isolates exhibiting seven unique PCR-ribotypes, including the PCR-ribotype 014. Among these, five were identified as toxinogenic, meaning they were capable of producing toxins.
  • Examination of the isolates showed high resistance to specific antibiotics, such as gentamicin, clindamycin, and ceftiofur.
  • The MLST analysis revealed four different sequencing types: ST11, ST26, ST2 and ST15. Phylogenetic analysis exhibited that majority of the isolates were closely related or shared a common lineage.
  • The clinical history analysis suggests that horses commonly harbor both toxigenic and non-toxigenic C. difficile. And most interestingly, colonization seems to happen regardless of the reason for hospitalization, while the manifestation of diarrhoea as a symptomatic response is relatively rare.

Cite This Article

APA
Rodriguez C, Taminiau B, Brévers B, Avesani V, Van Broeck J, Leroux AA, Amory H, Delmée M, Daube G. (2014). Carriage and acquisition rates of Clostridium difficile in hospitalized horses, including molecular characterization, multilocus sequence typing and antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial isolates. Vet Microbiol, 172(1-2), 309-317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetmic.2014.05.013

Publication

Veterinary microbiology
ISSN: 1873-2542
NlmUniqueID: 7705469
Country: Netherlands
Language: English
Volume: 172
Issue: 1-2
Pages: 309-317

Researcher Affiliations

Rodriguez, C
  • Food Science Department, FARAH, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium. Electronic address: c.rodriguez@ulg.ac.be.
Taminiau, B
  • Food Science Department, FARAH, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
Brévers, B
  • Food Science Department, FARAH, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
Avesani, V
  • Microbiology Unit, Catholic University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
Van Broeck, J
  • Microbiology Unit, Catholic University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
Leroux, A A
  • Equine Teaching Hospital, Clinical Department of Companion Animals and Equids, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
Amory, H
  • Equine Teaching Hospital, Clinical Department of Companion Animals and Equids, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
Delmée, M
  • Microbiology Unit, Catholic University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
Daube, G
  • Food Science Department, FARAH, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.

MeSH Terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Clostridioides difficile / classification
  • Clostridioides difficile / drug effects
  • Clostridioides difficile / genetics
  • Clostridioides difficile / pathogenicity
  • Clostridium Infections / drug therapy
  • Clostridium Infections / microbiology
  • Clostridium Infections / transmission
  • Clostridium Infections / veterinary
  • Diarrhea / drug therapy
  • Diarrhea / microbiology
  • Diarrhea / pathology
  • Diarrhea / veterinary
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial / genetics
  • Feces / microbiology
  • Female
  • Horse Diseases / drug therapy
  • Horse Diseases / microbiology
  • Horse Diseases / transmission
  • Horses
  • Hospitals, Animal
  • Male
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Multilocus Sequence Typing
  • Phylogeny
  • Ribotyping

Citations

This article has been cited 12 times.
  1. 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).
    doi: 10.3390/ani15182703pubmed: 41007948google scholar: lookup
  2. Hain-Saunders NMR, Knight DR, Harvey A, Bruce M, Hampson BA, Riley TV. Clostridioides difficile in feral horse populations in Australia. Appl Environ Microbiol 2025 May 21;91(5):e0211424.
    doi: 10.1128/aem.02114-24pubmed: 40172204google scholar: lookup
  3. Kabir A, Lamichhane B, Habib T, Adams A, El-Sheikh Ali H, Slovis NM, Troedsson MHT, Helmy YA. Antimicrobial Resistance in Equines: A Growing Threat to Horse Health and Beyond-A Comprehensive Review. Antibiotics (Basel) 2024 Jul 29;13(8).
    doi: 10.3390/antibiotics13080713pubmed: 39200013google scholar: lookup
  4. Andino-Molina M, Dost I, Abdel-Glil M, Pletz MW, Neubauer H, Seyboldt C. Antimicrobial resistance of Clostridioides difficile in veterinary medicine around the world: A scoping review of minimum inhibitory concentrations. One Health 2024 Dec;19:100860.
    doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2024.100860pubmed: 39157654google scholar: lookup
  5. Rodriguez-Diaz C, Seyboldt C, Rupnik M. Non-human Clostridioides difficile Reservoirs and Sources: Animals, Food, Environment. Adv Exp Med Biol 2024;1435:329-350.
    doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-42108-2_15pubmed: 38175482google scholar: lookup
  6. Hain-Saunders NMR, Knight DR, Bruce M, Byrne D, Riley TV. Genomic Analysis of Clostridioides difficile Recovered from Horses in Western Australia. Microorganisms 2023 Jul 3;11(7).
    doi: 10.3390/microorganisms11071743pubmed: 37512915google scholar: lookup
  7. 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.
    doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.15898pubmed: 35001483google scholar: lookup
  8. Archambault M, Rubin JE. Antimicrobial Resistance in Clostridium and Brachyspira spp. and Other Anaerobes. Microbiol Spectr 2020 Jan;8(1).
    doi: 10.1128/microbiolspec.ARBA-0020-2017pubmed: 31971162google scholar: lookup
  9. Schoster A, Staempfli HR, Guardabassi LG, Jalali M, Weese JS. Comparison of the fecal bacterial microbiota of healthy and diarrheic foals at two and four weeks of life. BMC Vet Res 2017 May 30;13(1):144.
    doi: 10.1186/s12917-017-1064-xpubmed: 28558788google scholar: lookup
  10. Rodriguez C, Taminiau B, Korsak N, Avesani V, Van Broeck J, Brach P, Delmée M, Daube G. Longitudinal survey of Clostridium difficile presence and gut microbiota composition in a Belgian nursing home. BMC Microbiol 2016 Oct 1;16(1):229.
    doi: 10.1186/s12866-016-0848-7pubmed: 27716140google scholar: lookup
  11. Rodriguez C, Taminiau B, Van Broeck J, Delmée M, Daube G. Clostridium difficile in Food and Animals: A Comprehensive Review. Adv Exp Med Biol 2016;932:65-92.
    doi: 10.1007/5584_2016_27pubmed: 27350639google scholar: lookup
  12. Rodriguez C, Taminiau B, Brévers B, Avesani V, Van Broeck J, Leroux A, Gallot M, Bruwier A, Amory H, Delmée M, Daube G. Faecal microbiota characterisation of horses using 16 rdna barcoded pyrosequencing, and carriage rate of clostridium difficile at hospital admission. BMC Microbiol 2015 Sep 16;15:181.
    doi: 10.1186/s12866-015-0514-5pubmed: 26377067google scholar: lookup
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