Prevalence, Molecular Characterization and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Clostridioides difficile Isolated from Pig Carcasses and Pork Products in Central Italy

Caterina Licciardi, Sara Primavilla, Rossana Roila, Alessia Lupattelli, Silvana Farneti, Giuliana Blasi, Annalisa Petruzzelli, Ilenia Drigo and Enrico Di Raimo Marrocchi
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Caterina Licciardi: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Umbria e delle Marche “Togo Rosati”, Via Salvemini 1, 06126 Perugia, Italy
Sara Primavilla: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Umbria e delle Marche “Togo Rosati”, Via Salvemini 1, 06126 Perugia, Italy
Rossana Roila: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Via San Costanzo 4, 06126 Perugia, Italy
Alessia Lupattelli: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Umbria e delle Marche “Togo Rosati”, Via Salvemini 1, 06126 Perugia, Italy
Silvana Farneti: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Umbria e delle Marche “Togo Rosati”, Via Salvemini 1, 06126 Perugia, Italy
Giuliana Blasi: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Umbria e delle Marche “Togo Rosati”, Via Salvemini 1, 06126 Perugia, Italy
Annalisa Petruzzelli: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Umbria e delle Marche “Togo Rosati”, Via Salvemini 1, 06126 Perugia, Italy
Ilenia Drigo: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Vicolo Mazzini 4, 31020 Treviso, Italy
Enrico Di Raimo Marrocchi: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Umbria e delle Marche “Togo Rosati”, Via Salvemini 1, 06126 Perugia, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 21, 1-10

Abstract: In the last decade, the incidence and severity of Clostridioides difficile infections (CDIs) in humans have been increasing and community-associated infections have been described. For these reasons, the interest in C. difficile in food and in food animals has increased, suggesting other possible sources of C. difficile acquisition. This study evaluated the presence of C. difficile on pig carcasses at the slaughterhouse and in pork products in Central Italy. The contamination rate on pig carcasses was 4/179 (2.3%). Regarding food samples, a total of 216 pork products were tested (74 raw meat preparations and 142 ready-to-eat food samples made by cured raw meat). The real-time PCR screening was positive for 1/74 raw meat preparation (1.35%) and for 1/142 ready-to-eat food samples (0.7%) C. difficile was isolated only from the raw meat preparation (pork sausage). All the isolated strains were toxigenic and susceptible to all the tested antibiotics. Strains isolated from carcass samples displayed A+B+CDTa+CDTb+ profile, were toxinotype IV and belonged to the same ribotype arbitrary named TV93, while the one isolated from food samples displayed A+B+CDTa-CDTb- profile and it was not possible to determine ribotype and toxinotype, because it was lost after freeze storage. It was concluded that the prevalence of C. difficile in the pork supply chain is very low.

Keywords: Clostridioides difficile; pig carcasses; pork products; food safety; real-time PCR; ribotype; MALDI-TOF; toxin genes; emerging foodborne pathogens; community-acquired CDI (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
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