title: Characterization of a multidrug resistant C. difficile meat isolate.
abstract: Clostridium difficile is a pathogen of significant public health concern causing a life-threatening, toxin-mediated enteric disease in humans. The incidence and severity of the disease associated with C. difficile have increased in the US with the emergence of hypervirulent strains and community associated outbreaks. The detection of genotypically similar and identical C. difficile strains implicated from human infections in foods and food animals indicates the potential role of food as a source of community associated C. difficile disease. One hundred samples each of ground beef, pork and chicken obtained from geographically distant grocery stores in Connecticut were tested for C. difficile. Positive isolates were characterized by ribotyping, antibiotic susceptibility, toxin production and whole genome sequencing. Of the 300 meat samples, only two pork samples tested positive for C. difficile indicating a very low prevalence of C. difficile in meat. The isolates were non toxigenic; however, genome characterization revealed the presence of several antibiotic resistance genes and mobile elements that can potentially contribute to generation of multidrug resistant toxigenic C. difficile by horizontal gene transfer. Further studies are warranted to investigate potential food-borne transmission of the meat isolates and development of multi-drug resistance in these strains.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
authors.forename: Shankumar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mooyottu
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
authors.forename: Genevieve
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Flock
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA.
authors.forename: Anup
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kollanoor-Johny
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
authors.forename: Indu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Upadhyaya
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Penn State Animal Diagnostic Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
authors.forename: Bhushan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jayarao
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA. Electronic address: kumar.venkitanarayanan@uconn.edu.
authors.forename: Kumar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Venkitanarayanan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D016680:Genome, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: C. difficile; Connecticut; Foodborne; Multidrug resistant; Prevalence