Zoonotic potential of the Clostridium difficile RT078 family in Taiwan.
Clostridium difficile is the major cause of nosocomial diarrhea. We have previously demonstrated that in southern Taiwan, severe C. difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) cases were due to the C. difficile RT 126 strain infection, indicating the arrival of an epidemic C. difficile clone in southern Taiwan. RT126 has a close genetic relationship with RT078. However, the RT078 family is the predominant strain of C. difficile in animals worldwide, particularly in swine. In this study, we surveyed C. difficile strains isolated from swine at several farms in Taiwan from August 2011 to March 2015. We found that all swine strains, namely RT078 (32.5%, 37 of 114), RT126 (28.9%, 33 of 114) and RT127 (37.7%, 43 of 114), belonged to the toxigenic RT078 family. All strains had high gyrA mutation rate (57.9%, 66/114), which was linked to quinolone resistance. Notably, Rep-PCR revealed that 3 RT078 animal strains had the same fingerprint as human RT078 clinical isolates; their phylogenic relationship was closely related to the whole gene sequences of tcdB, thus suggesting zoonotic potential for C. difficile infection in Taiwan.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, National Cheng Kung University, Medical College, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address: anemoday@hotmail.com.
Bo-Yang
BY
Tsai
Department of Internal Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan; Center for Infection Control, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan; Department of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Medical College, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address: winston3415@gmail.com.
Wen-Chien
WC
Ko
Graduate Institute of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan. Electronic address: thc@dragon.nchu.edu.tw.
Ter-Hsin
TH
Chen
Graduate Institute of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan. Electronic address: pata0112@gmail.com.
Ying-Chen
YC
Wu
Kaohsiung American School, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Electronic address: pohlan16@kas.kh.edu.tw.
Po-Han
PH
Lan
Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, National Cheng Kung University, Medical College, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address: ixiixi_17@msn.com.
Yi-Hsuan
YH
Chen
Department of Internal Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan; Department of Internal Medicine, Tainan Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address: yuebin16@yahoo.com.tw.
Yuan-Pin
YP
Hung
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, National Cheng Kung University, Medical College, Tainan, Taiwan; Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, National Cheng Kung University, Medical College, Tainan, Taiwan; Center of Infectious Disease and Signaling Research, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address: peijtsai@mail.ncku.edu.com.
Pei-Jane
PJ
Tsai
D000818:Animals; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D006801:Humans; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D010802:Phylogeny; D034421:Sus scrofa; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000635:transmission; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015047:Zoonoses
Clostridium difficile; RT078; Swine; Zoonotic potential