Indra Alexander, Lassnig Heimo, Baliko Nina, Much Peter, Fiedler Anita, Huhulescu Steliana, Allerberger Franz
Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, National Reference Center for Clostridium difficile, Wien, Austria.
Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2009;121(3-4):91-5. doi: 10.1007/s00508-008-1127-x.
Clostridium difficile is mainly considered a nosocomial pathogen associated with diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis in hospitalized patients. Austrian hospitals reported 2761 cases of C. difficile infection (including 277 lethal outcomes) in 2007, compared with 777 cases (including 54 lethal outcomes) in 2003. The occurrence of community-acquired C. difficile infection is also increasingly reported. Recent studies have shown the occurrence of C. difficile in food and animals. The aim of the present study was to determine the occurrence of C. difficile in food and animals in Austria. Between March and July 2008, gut or fecal samples from 67 cows, 61 pigs and 59 broiler chickens were collected at Austrian abattoirs. Between February and April 2008 meat samples (51 beef [25 ground], 27 pork [17 ground] and 6 samples of chicken meat) were purchased at retail outlets. Of the 187 samples tested, eight yielded C. difficile: in cows 3/67 samples (4.5%) were positive, in pigs 2/61 (3.3%), in broiler chickens 3/59 (5%). Six of the eight isolates yielded toxigenic C. difficile (toxins A and B): 2/67 (3%) cow samples, 2/61 (3.3%) pig samples, 2/59 (3.4%) chicken samples. Genes for the binary toxin were detected in one of the two pig isolates, a PCR ribotype 126 strain. None of the 84 meat samples yielded C. difficile. The results of this Austrian study suggest that animal reservoirs are possible sources, via food, of human C. difficile infection.
艰难梭菌主要被认为是一种与住院患者腹泻和假膜性结肠炎相关的医院病原体。奥地利医院在2007年报告了2761例艰难梭菌感染病例（包括277例致死病例），而在2003年为777例（包括54例致死病例）。社区获得性艰难梭菌感染的发生也越来越多地被报道。最近的研究表明在食物和动物中存在艰难梭菌。本研究的目的是确定奥地利食物和动物中艰难梭菌的存在情况。在2008年3月至7月期间，在奥地利屠宰场采集了67头奶牛、61头猪和59只肉鸡的肠道或粪便样本。在2008年2月至4月期间，从零售商店购买了肉类样本（51份牛肉样本[25份绞碎肉]、27份猪肉样本[17份绞碎肉]和6份鸡肉样本）。在检测的187个样本中，有8个样本检测出艰难梭菌：奶牛样本中3/67（4.5%）呈阳性，猪样本中2/61（3.3%）呈阳性，肉鸡样本中3/59（5%）呈阳性。8株分离株中有6株产生产毒艰难梭菌（毒素A和B）：奶牛样本中2/67（3%），猪样本中2/61（3.3%），鸡肉样本中2/59（3.4%）。在两株猪分离株中的一株（PCR核糖型126菌株）中检测到二元毒素基因。84份肉类样本中均未检测出艰难梭菌。这项奥地利研究的结果表明，动物宿主可能通过食物成为人类艰难梭菌感染的来源。
