title: Survival and prevalence of Clostridium difficile in manure compost derived from pigs.
abstract: Pigs, particularly piglets, have been identified as reservoir hosts of Clostridium difficile. To examine the survival ability of this pathogen in pig feces-based manure compost, C. difficile spores, which were prepared to contain as few vegetative cells as possible, were artificially inoculated into pig feces and incubated at different temperatures. While C. difficile survived in the feces incubated at temperatures below 37 °C for over 30 days, cell numbers gradually decreased at thermophilic temperatures (over 55 °C; p < 0.05). Next, to clarify the prevalence of C. difficile in field manure compost, we isolated and characterized C. difficile from the final products of manure compost products of 14 pig farms. A total of 11 C. difficile strains were isolated from 5 of 14 (36% positive rate) samples tested. Of these 11 strains, 82% were toxigenic, with ribotype 078 being the most prevalent. Thus, the application of composted manure to land therefore poses a possible risk of C. difficile transfer to the food chain.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Food Microbiology and Food Safety, Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno Gakuen University, Ebetsu, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Usui
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Food Microbiology and Food Safety, Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno Gakuen University, Ebetsu, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Mayuko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawakura
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Food Microbiology and Food Safety, Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno Gakuen University, Ebetsu, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yoshizawa
authors.affiliation: Division of Bioresources, Hokkaido University Research Center for Zoonosis Control, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Lai Lai
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: San
authors.affiliation: Division of Bioresources, Hokkaido University Research Center for Zoonosis Control, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Chie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.affiliation: Division of Bioresources, Hokkaido University Research Center for Zoonosis Control, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Food Microbiology and Food Safety, Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno Gakuen University, Ebetsu, Hokkaido, Japan. Electronic address: tamuray@rakuno.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tamura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005506:Food Contamination; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008372:Manure / Q000382:microbiology; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D015995:Prevalence; D021521:Ribotyping; D012987:Soil; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013171:Spores, Bacterial; D013552:Swine / Q000382:microbiology*; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D008372:Manure; D012987:Soil
keywords: Clostridium difficile; Manure compost; Pigs; Ribotype 078