The epidemiology of Clostridium perfringens type A on Ontario swine farms, with special reference to cpb2-positive isolates

BMC Veterinary Research

John F Prescott¹  Robert Friendship²  Yanlong Pei¹  Vivian M Nicholson¹  Glenn Soltes¹  Abdolvahab Farzan²  Gloria Chan² 

[1] Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada;Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada

关键词: Epidemiology;    Pig;    cpb2;    Clostridium perfringens type A;   

Others  :  1119731
DOI  :  10.1186/1746-6148-8-156

 received in 2012-04-05, accepted in 2012-08-30,  发布年份 2012

【 摘 要 】

Background

There is poor understanding of most aspects of Clostridium perfringens type A as a possible cause of neonatal diarrhea in piglets, and the prevalence and types of C. perfringens present on Ontario swine farms is unknown. To study the prevalence of fecal C. perfringens and selected toxin genes, 48 Ontario swine farms were visited between August 2010 and May 2011, and 354 fecal samples were collected from suckling pigs, lactating sows, weanling pigs, grower-finisher pigs, and gestating sows, as well as from manure pits. The fecal samples were cultured quantitatively, and toxin genes were detected by real-time multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Results

In mixed multivariable linear analysis, log₁₀C. perfringens in fecal samples from suckling pigs were higher than that of weanling pigs, grower-finisher pigs, and manure pit samples (P <0.05). In mixed multivariable logistic analysis, the C. perfringens isolates recovered from lactating sows (OR = 0.069, P <0.001), gestating sows (OR = 0.020, P <0.001), grower-finishers (OR = 0.017, P <0.001), and manure pits (OR = 0.11, P <0.001) were less likely to be positive for the consensus beta2 toxin gene cpb2 compared to the isolates from suckling pigs. The prevalence of cpb2 in the isolates recovered from weanlings did not differ significantly from suckling pigs. C. perfringens isolates that were positive for cpb2 were more likely to carry the atypical cpb2 gene (atyp-cpb2) (OR = 19, P <0.001) compared to isolates that were negative for cpb2. Multivariable analysis did not identify farm factors affecting the presence of consensus cpb2 and atyp-cpb2 genes.

Conclusions

This study provides baseline data on the prevalence of C. perfringens and associated toxin genes in healthy pigs at different stages of production on Ontario swine farms. The study suggests that if C. perfringens type A are involved in neonatal enteritis, there may be strains with specific characteristics that cannot be identified by the existing genotyping system.

【 授权许可】

   
2012 Chan et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 参考文献 】

• [1]Lehe K: Successful control of clostridial enteritis: A report from the back forty. In Proceedings of American Association of Swine Veterinarians. Perry, IA, USA: American Association of Swine Veterinarians, Dallas; 2009.
• [2]Schwartz KJ: Clostridium-associated diseases in swine. In Proceedings of American Association of Swine Veterinarians. Perry, IA, USA: American Association of Swine Veterinarians, Dallas; 2009.
• [3]Songer JG, Uzal FA: Clostridial enteric infections in pigs. J Vet Diag Invest 2005, 17:528-536.
• [4]Jost BH, Billington SJ, Trinh HT, Bueschel DM, Songer JG: Atypical cpb2 genes, encoding beta2-toxin in Clostridium perfringens isolates of nonporcine origin. Infect Immun 2005, 73:652-656.
• [5]Albini S, Brodard I, Jaussi A, Wollschlaeger N, Frey J, Miserez R, Abril C: Real-time multiplex PCR assays for reliable detection of Clostridium perfringens toxin genes in animal isolates. Vet Microbiol 2008, 127:179-185.
• [6]Yaeger M, Funk N, Hoffman L: A survey of agents associated with neonatal diarrhea in Iowa swine including Clostridium difficile and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus. J Vet Diagn Invest 2002, 14:281-287.
• [7]Garmory HS, Chanter N, French NP, Bueschel D, Songer JG, Titball RW: Occurrence of Clostridium perfringens beta2-toxin amongst animals, determined using genotyping and subtyping PCR assays. Epidemiol Infect 2000, 124:61-67.
• [8]Bueschel DM, Jost BH, Billington SJ, Trinh HT, Songer JG: Prevalence of cbp2, encoding beta2 toxin, in Clostridium perfringens field isolates: correlation of genotype with phenotype. Vet Microbiol 2002, 94:121-129.
• [9]Waters M, Savoie A, Garmory HS, Bueschel D, Popoff MR, Songer GJ, Titball RW, McClane BA, Sarker MR: Genotyping and phenotyping of beta2-toxigenic Clostridium perfringens fecal isolates associated with gastrointestinal diseases in piglets. J Clin Microbiol 2003, 41:3584-3591.
• [10]Wieler LH, Ilieff A, Herbst W, Bauer C, Vieler E, Bauerfeind R, Failing K, Klos H, Wengert D, Baljer G, Zahner H: Prevalence of enteropathogens in suckling and weanling suckling pigs with diarrhea in southern Germany. J Vet Med B 2001, 48:151-159.
• [11]Katsuda K, Kohmoto M, Kawashima K, Tsunemitsu H: Frequency of enteropathogen detection in suckling and weanling pigs with diarrhea in Japan. J Vet Diagn Invest 2006, 18:350-354.
• [12]Baker AA, Davis E, Rehberger T, Rosener D: Prevalence and diversity of toxigenic Clostridium perfringens and Clostridium difficile among swine herds in the midwest. Appl Environ Microbiol 2010, 76:2961-2967.
• [13]Farzan A, Kircanki J, DeLay J, Soltes G, Songer GJ, Friendship R, Prescott JF: An investigation into the association between cpb2-encoding Clostridium perfringens type A and diarrhea in neonatal piglets. Can J Vet Resin press
• [14]Smith WH, Jones JET: Observations on the alimentary tract and its bacterial flora in healthy and diseased pigs. J Path Bact 1963, 84:387-412.
• [15]Jost HB, Trinh TH, Songer GJ: Clonal relationships among Clostridium perfringens of porcine origin as determined by multilocus sequence typing. Vet Microbiol 2006, 116:158-165.
• [16]Slavic D, Boerlin P, Fabri M, Klotins KC, Zoethout JK, Weir PE, Bateman D: Antimicrobial susceptibility of Clostridium perfringens isolates of bovine, chicken, porcine, and turkey origin from Ontario. Can J Vet Res 2011, 75:89-97.
• [17]Chalmers G, Bruce HL, Hunter DB, Parreira VR, Kulkarni RR, Jiang YF, Prescott JF, Boerlin P: Multilocus sequence typing analysis of Clostridium perfringens isolates from necrotic enteritis outbreaks in broiler chicken populations. J Clin Microbiol 2008, 46:3957-3964.
• [18]Kanakaraj R, Harris DL, Songer GJ, Bosworth B: Multiplex PCR assay for detection of Clostridium perfringens in feces and intestinal contents of pigs and in swine feed. Vet Microbiol 1998, 63:29-38.
• [19]Klaasen HL, Molkenboer MJ, Bakker J, Miserez R, Häni H, Frey J, Popoff MR, van den Bosch JF: Detection of the beta2 toxin gene of Clostridium perfringens in diarrhoeic piglets in The Netherlands and Switzerland. FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol 1999, 24(3):325-332.