title: [Distribution of Clostridium tetani in topsoil from Sagamihara, central Japan].
abstract: Despite reports of Clostridium tetani being isolated from soil in Kanazawa, Okinawa, and Tokyo, Japan, little has been studied about C. tetani distribution in other regions. We studied C. tetani in topsoil samples collected from private gardens, public road shoulders, a university campus, mountains, and fields in Sagamihara. C. tetani occurred in 8 of 35 soil samples (22.9%) and tetanus toxin in 7 of the 8 C. tetani-positive samples (87.5%). Contamination was clearly higher in soils from mountains near Tsukui-gun (Kanagawa Prefecture), Minamitsuru-gun, and Uenohara and Koshu cities (Yamanashi Prefecture) than in other regions. These findings suggest that tetanus toxin-producing strains of C. tetani tend to inhabit the topsoil of western Sagaminaha region, as a geographical feature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Nagaoka Red Cross Hospital.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Haneda
authors.forename: Yasumasa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shiobara
authors.forename: Masami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inui
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sekiguchi
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takayama
authors.forename: Ritsuko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kikuno
authors.forename: Shunji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okuda
authors.forename: Matsuhisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sasahara
mesh_terms: D003017:Clostridium tetani / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007564:Japan; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013744:Tetanus Toxin / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D013744:Tetanus Toxin