title: Clostridium difficile in Food and Animals: A Comprehensive Review.
abstract: Zoonoses are infections or diseases that can be transmitted between animals and humans through direct contact, close proximity or the environment. Clostridium difficile is ubiquitous in the environment, and the bacterium is able to colonise the intestinal tract of both animals and humans. Since domestic and food animals frequently test positive for toxigenic C. difficile, even without showing any signs of disease, it seems plausible that C. difficile could be zoonotic. Therefore, animals could play an essential role as carriers of the bacterium. In addition, the presence of the spores in different meats, fish, fruits and vegetables suggests a risk of foodborne transmission. This review summarises the current available data on C. difficile in animals and foods, from when the bacterium was first described up to the present.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, University of Liège-Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Avenue de Cureghem 10, bât 43bis Sart-Tilman, 4000, Liège, Belgium. c.rodriguez@ulg.ac.be.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, University of Liège-Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Avenue de Cureghem 10, bât 43bis Sart-Tilman, 4000, Liège, Belgium.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Taminiau
authors.affiliation: Belgian Reference Centre for Clostridium difficile (NRC), Pôle de microbiologie médicale, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Broeck
authors.affiliation: Belgian Reference Centre for Clostridium difficile (NRC), Pôle de microbiologie médicale, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Delmée
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, University of Liège-Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Avenue de Cureghem 10, bât 43bis Sart-Tilman, 4000, Liège, Belgium.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Daube
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000635:transmission; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission
keywords: Animals; Clostridium difficile; Epidemiology; Food; Transmission