Population-based study of fecal shedding of Clostridium perfringens in broodmares and foals.

This research article investigates the percentage of broodmares and foals that shed the bacterium Clostridium perfringens in their feces, and determines the genotypes of these bacterial strains. The findings suggest that Clostridium perfringens is a common part of the fecal microflora in foals and broodmares, with the bacterium type A as the most common strain found.

Study Methodology

• The study employed a prospective cross-sectional method. It was performed across six horse breeding farms, involving a total of 128 broodmares and their respective offsprings.
• Anaerobic and aerobic bacteria cultures were taken from the feces of both mares and foals for analysis. The samples were taken three times at different stages of the foal’s life.
• All strains of C. perfringens detected were genotyped to determine their specific form.

Research Findings

• The study found that C. perfringens was present in the feces of 90% of 3-day-old foals and 64% of 8-12 hour old foals. This suggests that C. perfringens is a member of the regular bacterial microbiota in the feces of newborn foals.
• Comparatively, a lower percentage of mares and 1-2 month old foals were found to shed the bacteria in their feces.
• Regarding the genotypes of the C. perfringens bacteria, type A was the most commonly found in the samples (85%). Other types such as type A with beta2 toxin gene, type A with enterotoxin gene, and type C were found less frequently.

Conclusions

• The researchers concluded that C. perfringens is likely a normal component of the fecal microflora in newborn foals. This is because the bacterium was found in all but six 3-day-old foals.
• Most of the C. perfringens strains in both mares and foals were identified as type A. This calls into question the clinical relevance of the culture results alone as indicators of disease, as C. perfringens type A is usually not associated with disease in horses.
• Rarely found in the fecal samples was C. perfringens type C, a genotype known to cause neonatal enterocolitis, a severe intestinal disease in young foals.