Studies on diarrhea in equine associated with Clostridiun difficile and Clostridium perfringens infection

ABSTRACT

Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfingens play a significant role in diarrhea affecting equini. This study was designed to determine the role of Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfingens in equine diarhhea, 380 animals were examined clicically, where 65 were suffering from diarrhea. Fecal samples were collected from diarrheic animals, and 10 samples from apparently healthy animals. Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfingens were isolated from 19 and 11 samples respectively, while the two bacteria were isolated from 5 samples simultaneously. Moreover 4 samples from apparent clinical healthy animals had Clostridium difficile infection, indicating the high prevelance of these organisms in equine. Toxins of Clostridium difficile wasn't detected in diarrheic samples or culture of Clostridium isolates by ELISA and PCR-technique, while alpha and beta2 toxins of clostridium perfingens were detected in culture of clostridium