Prevalence of enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringens in foods of animal origin, Guwahati, India

Abstract

An investigation was carried out from August 2010 to February 2011 to isolate Clostridium perfringens from foods of animal origin and detect the presence of enterotoxin gene in the isolates in Guwahati, India. A total of 400 food samples comprising 50 each of chevon, pork, fish, beef and liquid raw milk, curd, pasteurized milk powder, pasteurized liquid milk and ice cream were screened for the presence of Clostridium perfringens. A total of 33 food samples were tested positive for the presence of the organism. Among the 33 isolates of C. perfringens, 5(15.15%) were found positive for enterotoxin gene (cpe) by Polymerase chain reaction. The result showed that those foods which tested positive for enterotoxigenic C.perfringens had potential to cause food poisoning. Even those foods which tested negative for the presence of enterotoxigenic C. perfringens could be contaminated from the environment due to poor handling of foods pre- and post processing. Therefore, hygiene should be maintained at all levels of food preparation in order to prevent food borne illness caused by such organism.