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Bulletin No. 22 - Summer 2005
BacterologyEscherichia coli & Clostridium dificile / perfrigens
NARDI M, FACCINI S, ROSIGNOLI C, FRANZINI G, NIGRELLI A
Clostridium difficile nelle enteriti neonatali del suinetto: indagine in allevamenti della pianura padana [Neonatal pig enteritis associated with Clostridium difficile; a survey in Northern Italy farms].
Società Italiana di Patologia ed Allevamento dei Suini - Proceedings, 2005, 531-538
The main pathogenic factors of Clostridium difficile are two toxins: the enterotoxin A and the cytotoxin B, the production of which causes neonatal diarrhea in piglets. A total of 39 cases of diarrhea from various herds were included in this study. Eighty carcasses and 32 feces samples of piglets aged less than 15 days were investigated. Clostridium difficile was isolated from 44 piglets, representing 16 of the 39 submitted cases (41%). Toxins A and B were detected in 62.5% of the Clostridium difficile-positive cases. At necropsy, the positive piglets showed enterocolitis (100%), edema of mesocolon, (46%), distention of the abdominal wall and ascites (19%). The intestinal contents was intense-yellow colored when C. difficile was the only isolated pathogen while it was mucous and sometimes hemorrhagic when it was associated with enterotoxic E. coli. The results of this study confirm the presence of Clostridium difficile in swine herds of the Po Valley.
