Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA.
Global One Health initiative, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Zoonoses Public Health. 2019 Nov;66(7):861-870. doi: 10.1111/zph.12637. Epub 2019 Aug 7.
Swine are known reservoirs for Clostridioides difficile, formerly known as Clostridium difficile, and transmission from swine to human farm workers is strongly suggested by previous studies. This cross-sectional study evaluated the potential role of farm environmental surfaces, including those in worker breakrooms and swine housing areas, in the possible transmission of C. difficile from swine to farm workers. Environmental surfaces and piglet faeces at 13 Ohio swine farms were sampled in 2015. Typical culturing techniques were performed to isolate C. difficile from samples, and amplification of toxin genes (tcdA, tcdB and cdtB) and PCR-ribotyping were used to genetically characterize recovered isolates. In addition, sequencing of toxin regulatory gene, tcdC, was done to identify the length of identified deletions in some isolates. A survey collected farm-level management risk factor information. Clostridioides difficile was recovered from all farms, with 42% (188/445) of samples testing positive for C. difficile. Samples collected from all on-farm locations recovered C. difficile, including farrowing rooms (60%, 107/178), breakrooms (50%, 69/138) and nursery rooms (9%, 12/129). Three ribotypes recovered from both swine and human environments (078, 412 and 005) have been previously implicated in human disease. Samples taken from farrowing rooms and breakrooms were found to have greater odds of C. difficile recovery than those taken from nursery rooms (OR = 40.5, OR = 35.6, p < .001 respectively). Farms that weaned ≥23,500 pigs per year had lower odds of C. difficile recovery as compared to farms that weaned fewer pigs (OR = 0.4, p = .01) and weekly or more frequent cleaning of breakroom counters was associated with higher odds of C. difficile recovery (OR = 11.7, p < .001). This study provides important insights into the presence and characterization of C. difficile found in human environments on swine farms and highlights how these areas may be involved in transmission of C. difficile to swine farm workers and throughout the facility.
猪是艰难梭菌（以前称为艰难梭状芽胞杆菌）的已知宿主，先前的研究强烈表明艰难梭菌可从猪传播给人类农场工人。本横断面研究评估了农场环境表面（包括工人休息室和猪圈区域的环境表面）在艰难梭菌可能从猪传播给农场工人中的潜在作用。2015 年在俄亥俄州的 13 个养猪场采集了环境表面和仔猪粪便样本。采用典型的培养技术从样本中分离艰难梭菌，并扩增毒素基因（tcdA、tcdB 和 cdtB）和 PCR 核糖体分型对回收的分离株进行遗传特征分析。此外，还对毒素调节基因 tcdC 进行了测序，以确定一些分离株中鉴定出的缺失的长度。一项调查收集了农场级管理风险因素信息。艰难梭菌从所有农场中回收，42%（188/445）的样本艰难梭菌检测呈阳性。从所有农场地点采集的样本均回收艰难梭菌，包括分娩室（60%，107/178）、休息室（50%，69/138）和保育室（9%，12/129）。从猪和人类环境中回收的三种核糖体类型（078、412 和 005）先前与人类疾病有关。与保育室相比，从分娩室和休息室采集的样本更有可能回收艰难梭菌（OR=40.5，OR=35.6，p<0.001）。每年断奶≥23500 头猪的农场与断奶较少猪的农场相比，艰难梭菌回收的可能性较低（OR=0.4，p=0.01），每周或更频繁地清洁休息室柜台与艰难梭菌回收的可能性更高相关（OR=11.7，p<0.001）。本研究提供了有关在养猪场人类环境中发现的艰难梭菌的存在和特征的重要见解，并强调了这些区域如何参与艰难梭菌向养猪场工人的传播以及整个设施的传播。
