Abstract
Clostridium perfringens is considered one of the important causes of calf diarrhea. Two hundred and twenty-seven clinical samples from newly born and dead diarrheic calves were examined bacteriologically and by PCR. Bacterial culture identified C. perfringens in 168 of 227 samples. A total of 144 of these isolates were lecithinase positive, indicating C. perfringens Type A. In addition, 154 isolates were positive by alpha toxin encoding gene-PCR assay. This study showed high agreement between the results of bacteriology and multiplex PCR. The multiplex PCR typed all isolates that were typed as C. perfringens Type A through bacteriologic methods, but ten samples that were lecithinase negative were positive in the multiplex PCR. The study showed the highest occurrence of C. perfringens Type A isolations from calves during the winter and autumn compared with other seasons.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Afshari, A., Jamshidi, A., Razmyar, J., and Rad, M., 2015. Genotyping of Clostridium perfringens isolated from broiler meat in northeastern of Iran, Veterinary Research Forum, 6, 279.
Ammar, A., Mona, A.M., Norhan, A.K., and Hanaa, A.A., 2008. Toxinotyping and Genotyping of C. perfringens Associated with Diarrhoea in Calves, proceedings of Zagazig Veterinary Conference, Portsaid, Egypt.
Ashgan, M., Al-Arfaj, A.A., and Moussa, I., 2013. Identification of four major toxins of Clostridium perfringens recovered from clinical specimens, African Journal of Microbiology Research, 7, 3658–3664.
Baums, C.G., Schotte, U., Amtsberg, G., and Goethe, R., 2004. Diagnostic multiplex PCR for toxin genotyping of Clostridium perfringens isolates, Veterinary microbiology, 100, 11–16.
Das, A., Mazumder, Y., Dutta, B., Shome, B., Bujarbaruah, K., and Kumar, R., 2012. Molecular typing of Clostridium perfringens isolated from diarrhoeic cattle, Journal of Animal Science Advances, 2, 226–229.
Diab, S.S., Uzal, F.A., Songer, J.G., Prescott, J.F., and Popoff, M.R., 2016. Diseases Produced by Clostridium perfringens Type C, Clostridial Diseases of Animals, 143–155.
Dungu, B., Henton, M., Bosman, A., Fourie, H., and Viljoen, G., 2000. Evaluation of two PCR-based procedures for typing Clostridium perfringens: research communication, Journal of the South African Veterinary Association, 71, 111–114.
Egwari, L., Oghogho, E., and Oniha, M., 2014. Preliminary screening for toxin genes amongst stock cultures of Clostridium perfringens strains isolated from dogs and calves, South Asian Journal Experimental Biology, 4, 127–132.
Elhaig, M.M., and Selim, A., 2015. Molecular and bacteriological investigation of subclinical mastitis caused by Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus agalactiae in domestic bovids from Ismailia, Egypt, Tropical animal health and production, 47, 271–276.
Gohari, I.M., Parreira, V.R., Nowell, V.J., Nicholson, V.M., Oliphant, K., and Prescott, J.F., 2015. A Novel Pore-Forming Toxin in Type A Clostridium perfringens Is Associated with Both Fatal Canine Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis and Fatal Foal Necrotizing Enterocolitis, PloS one, 10.
Goossens, E., Verherstraeten, S., Valgaeren, B.R., Pardon, B., Timbermont, L., Schauvliege, S., Rodrigo-Mocholí, D., Haesebrouck, F., Ducatelle, R., and Deprez, P.R., 2016. The C-terminal domain of Clostridium perfringens alpha toxin as a vaccine candidate against bovine necrohemorrhagic enteritis, Veterinary research, 47, 1.
Greco, G., Madio, A., Buonavoglia, D., Totaro, M., Corrente, M., Martella, V., and Buonavoglia, C., 2005. Clostridium perfringens toxin-types in lambs and kids affected with gastroenteric pathologies in Italy, The veterinary journal, 170, 346–350.
Hadimli, H.H., Erganiş, O., Sayin, Z., and Aras, Z., 2012. Toxinotyping of Clostridium perfringens isolates by ELISA and PCR from lambs suspected of enterotoxemia, Turkish Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, 36, 409–415.
Hamouda, M., Al–hizab, F., and Taha Fouda, M.F., 2013. Implication of Clostridium perfringens type A in Young Calves, Research Journal for Veterinary Practitioners, 2, 9–12.
Keane, O.M., Budd, K.E., Flynn, J., and McCoy, F., 2013. Increased detection of mastitis pathogens by real-time PCR compared to bacterial culture, Veterinary Record, 173, 268.
Koneman, E.W., 1997. Color atlas and textbook of diagnostic microbiology, (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins).
Miserez, R., Frey, J., Buogo, C., Capaul, S., Tontis, A., Burnens, A., and Nicolet, J., 1998. Detection of a-and e-toxigenic Clostridium perfringens type D in sheep and goats using a DNA amplification technique (PCR), Letters in applied microbiology, 26, 382–386.
Nagpal, R., Ogata, K., Tsuji, H., Matsuda, K., Takahashi, T., Nomoto, K., Suzuki, Y., Kawashima, K., Nagata, S., and Yamashiro, Y., 2015. Sensitive quantification of Clostridium perfringens in human feces by quantitative real-time PCR targeting alpha-toxin and enterotoxin genes, BMC microbiology, 15, 219.
Odendaal, M., 1994. Clostridium perfringens group, Infectious Diseases of Livestock with special reference to Southern Africa, 2, 1290–1298.
Ohtani, K., and Shimizu, T., 2016. Regulation of Toxin Production in Clostridium perfringens, Toxins, 8, 207.
Prescott, J.F., Uzal, F.A., Songer, J.G., and Popoff, M.R., 2016. Brief Description of Animal Pathogenic Clostridia, Clostridial Diseases of Animals, 13–19.
Quinn, P.J., Markey, B.K., Leonard, F.C., FitzPatrick, E.S., Fanning, S., and Hartigan, P., 2011. Veterinary microbiology and microbial disease, (John Wiley & Sons).
Savic, B., Prodanovic, R., Ivetic, V., Radanovic, O., and Bojkovski, J., 2012. Enteritis associated with Clostridium perfringens type A in 9-month-old calves, The Canadian Veterinary Journal, 53, 174.
Silva, R.O., Almeida, L.R., Junior, C.A.O., Lima, P.C., Soares, D.F., Pereira, P.L., Silva, I.J., and Lobato, F.C., 2016. Isolation and Genotyping of Clostridium Perfringens from free-living South American Coati (NASUA NASUA), Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 47, 333–336.
Smith, B.P., 2014. Large animal internal medicine, (Elsevier Health Sciences).
Smith, L.D., and Holdeman, L., 1969. The pathogenic anaerobic bacteria, (Springfield, Ill. : Thomas).
Theoret, J.R., Uzal, F.A., and McClane, B.A., 2015. Identification and Characterization of Clostridium perfringens Beta Toxin Variants with Differing Trypsin Sensitivity and In Vitro Cytotoxicity Activity, Infection and immunity, 83, 1477–1486.
Wang, G., Zhou, J., Zheng, F., Lin, G., Cao, X., Gong, X., and Qiu, C., 2011. Detection of different genotypes of Clostridium perfringens in feces of healthy dairy cattle from china using real-time duplex PCR assay, Pakistan Veterinary Journal, 31, 120–124.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Selim, A.M., Elhaig, M.M., Zakaria, I. et al. Bacteriological and molecular studies of Clostridium perfringens infections in newly born calves. Trop Anim Health Prod 49, 201–205 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-016-1181-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-016-1181-8