title: Household pets as a potential reservoir for Clostridium difficile infection.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess the carriage of Clostridium difficile by household pets to determine their potential as a reservoir of infection. The selective cycloserine-cefoxitin medium was used for C difficile isolation, and tissue culture used for detection of cytotoxin. Carriage of C difficile by household pets was found to be common (23%). The carriage tends to be transient and does not appear to be associated with gastrointestinal disease. Although carriage was higher in animals who had antecedent antibiotic treatment (31%) compared to those which had not (19%), the differences were not statistically significant. In most cases non-cytotoxigenic strains were isolated. Of the cytotoxigenic strains isolated at least one strain was pathogenic in a well documented animal model of human disease. Both cytotoxigenic and non-cytotoxigenic strains of C difficile could be isolated from the environment of the animals studied.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic / Q000382:microbiology*; D002353:Carrier State / Q000382:microbiology; D002415:Cats; D003013:Clostridium / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000635:transmission*; D003603:Cytotoxins / Q000032:analysis; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000662:veterinary*; D004285:Dogs; D005243:Feces / Q000032:analysis / Q000382:microbiology; D011200:Poultry
chemical_list: D003603:Cytotoxins