Excretion of enterotoxin-producing Clostridium perfringens in feces by patients during and after diarrhea.

The excretion in the feces of Clostridium perfringens producing enterotoxin by 48 patients in 3 cases of food poisoning was studied during the illness and 1 and 3 months after the onset. Patients in the first outbreak excreted such strains mostly in the form of spores. In the second outbreak, spores and viable count cells were excreted in nearly equal numbers, and about 50% of the spores were enterotoxigenic. In the third outbreak, the strains were detected both as spores and as viable count cells during the illness. In all three groups, most fecal samples contained at least 10(3) spores per gram. About 1 month after the onset of the illness, (long after recovery from symptoms), 12 colonies producing enterotoxin were detected from five of the 22 samples of feces obtained from subjects in the three groups. There were few C. perfringens organisms, mostly spores, in the feces. Enterotoxin was not detected in the feces. About 3 months after onset, colonies producing enterotoxin could not be detected from feces of 11 of the subjects in the first group. We conclude that persons affected by C. perfringens food poisoning might contaminate food for at least 1 month after the onset.