title: Toxigenic Clostridium difficile PCR ribotypes in edible marine bivalve molluscs in Italy.
abstract: Even though food of animal sources and different foodstuffs are well known to be potentially carrier of Clostridium difficile, few data are available on the occurrence of C. difficile in seafood. This work investigated the occurrence of C. difficile in edible bivalve molluscs in southern Italy. Out of the 925 investigated samples, 3.9% contained C. difficile. Eighteen strains harboured both genes for toxins A and B whereas 1 only had toxin B gene. Binary toxin genes were found in 22.2% of the isolates. The most frequently ribotypes found were 078/126 (22.2%), 010 (19.4%), and 001 (8.3%). All isolates were susceptible to metronidazole, vancomycin, fidaxomicin, and to the new semisynthetic thiopeptide antibiotic LFF571, whereas 19.4% of them were resistant to moxifloxacin, 30.5% to clindamycin, 38.8% to erythromycin, and 100% to ciprofloxacin. This study points out that edible molluscs could be a potential source of toxigenic C. difficile ribotypes and a potential risk for human health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Science and Technology, Parthenope University of Naples, 80143 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Troiano
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, National Reference Laboratory for Clostridium difficile, Leiden University Medical Center, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Celine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Harmanus
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, National Reference Laboratory for Clostridium difficile, Leiden University Medical Center, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ingrid M J G
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Sanders
authors.affiliation: Department of Science and Technology, Parthenope University of Naples, 80143 Naples, Italy. Electronic address: vincenzo.pasquale@uniparthenope.it.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pasquale
authors.affiliation: Department of Science and Technology, Parthenope University of Naples, 80143 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dumontet
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Inspection, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale per il Mezzogiorno di Portici, 80055 Portici (Naples), Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Capuano
authors.affiliation: Department of Science and Technology, Parthenope University of Naples, 80143 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenza
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, National Reference Laboratory for Clostridium difficile, Leiden University Medical Center, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ed J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Kuijper
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000382:microbiology*; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D005516:Food Microbiology; D007558:Italy; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D021521:Ribotyping
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001427:Bacterial Toxins
keywords: Clostridium difficile; Edible bivalve mollusc; Fidaxomicin; LFF571