[Distribution of Clostridium tetani in topsoil from Sagamihara, central Japan].
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.
Haneda
Jun
J
Department of Internal Medicine, Nagaoka Red Cross Hospital.
Shiobara
Yasumasa
Y
Inui
Masami
M
Sekiguchi
Tomoko
T
Sato
Yoshinori
Y
Takayama
Yoko
Y
Kikuno
Ritsuko
R
Okuda
Shunji
S
Inoue
Matsuhisa
M
Sasahara
Takeshi
T
D003017:Clostridium tetani / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007564:Japan; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013744:Tetanus Toxin / Q000032:analysis
D013744:Tetanus Toxin