title: The same clade of Clostridium botulinum strains is causing avian botulism in southern and northern Europe.
abstract: Avian botulism is a paralytic disease caused by Clostridium botulinum-produced botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), most commonly of type C/D. It is a serious disease of waterbirds and poultry flocks in many countries in Europe. The objective of this study was to compare the genetic relatedness of avian C. botulinum strains isolated in Spain with strains isolated in Sweden using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Fifteen strains were isolated from Spanish waterbirds using an immunomagnetic separation technique. Isolates were characterized by PCR, and all were identified as the genospecies Clostridium novyi sensu lato and eight harboured the gene coding for the BoNT type C/D. PFGE analysis of the strains revealed four highly similar pulsotypes, out of which two contained strains from both countries. It also showed that outbreaks in wild and domestic birds can be caused by the same strains. These results support a clonal spreading of the mosaic C. botulinum type C/D through Europe and give relevant information for future epidemiological studies.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain. Electronic address: anza.ibone@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ibone
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Anza
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, National Veterinary Institute (SVA), Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Skarin
authors.affiliation: Área de Microbiología, Departamento de Ciencias Médicas, Facultad de Medicina de Ciudad Real, Edificio Polivalente, Camino de Moledores s/n, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: Dolors
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vidal
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, National Veterinary Institute (SVA), Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lindberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, National Veterinary Institute (SVA), Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Viveca
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Båverud
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mateo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D001717:Birds; D001906:Botulism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D003014:Clostridium botulinum / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D005838:Genotype; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D058889:Molecular Typing; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Avian botulism; Clostridium botulinum; Immunomagnetic separation; PFGE