Abstract
BackgroundClostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens are commonly associated with colitis in equids, but healthy carriers exist. Scarce information is available on the prevalence of Clostridium spp. in gastrointestinal compartments other than faeces in healthy horses, and it is unknown whether faecal samples are representative of proximal compartments. The objectives were to investigate the prevalence of C. difficile and C. perfringens in different intestinal compartments of healthy adult horses and to determine whether faecal samples are representative of colonization in proximal sites and overall carrier status.ResultsToxigenic C. difficile was isolated from 14/135 (10.3%) samples from 8/15 (53.3%) horses. Between zero and three sites were positive per horse, and multiple sites were positive in four horses. Isolates were recovered from duodenum, jejunum, ileum, right dorsal colon, small colon and rectum. When multiple compartments were positive in a single horse, two different C. difficile ribotypes were always present. Clostridium perfringens Type A (CPE, β2 toxin gene negative) was recovered from the left ventral colon of one horse (0.74%, 1/135 samples). Agreement between faeces and overall C. difficile carrier status was good.ConclusionsClostridium difficile can be found in different compartments of the gastrointestinal tract of healthy horses, and multiple strains can be present in an individual horse. The prevalence of C. perfringens in healthy adult hoses was low, consistent with previous reports. Faecal samples were representative for presence of C. difficile in proximal compartments in 5/8 horses (63%) but were not representative for the specific strain.
Highlights
Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens are commonly associated with colitis in equids, but healthy carriers exist
Clostridium difficile is an important cause of acute enterocolitis in horses [3,4,5] with clinical signs ranging from mild self-limiting disease to fulminant necro-haemorrhagic enterocolitis [6]
In three horses (38%) C. difficile was isolated from a proximal site but the rectal samples were negative, while in 3 (38%) other horses the rectum and a proximal site were positive and in 2 (25%) horses the rectum was the only positive site
Summary
Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens are commonly associated with colitis in equids, but healthy carriers exist. The objectives were to investigate the prevalence of C. difficile and C. perfringens in different intestinal compartments of healthy adult horses and to determine whether faecal samples are representative of colonization in proximal sites and overall carrier status. Recent studies have reported low prevalence rates of 0-8% in faeces of healthy adult horses [5,13,15,16,17]. This organism is mostly associated with colonic disease but has been identified in the small intestine of horses with gastrointestinal disease [15], in horses with grass sickness and in healthy horses [13]. Clear information about the distribution of C. perfringens in the proximal intestinal tract and information on shedding of this organism over time in healthy horses is lacking
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