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Published on: December 10, 2016
Typhlocolitis associated with Clostridium difficile ribotypes 078 and 110 in neonatal piglets from a commercial Irish
Máire C McElroy1, Martin Hill1, Geraldine Moloney2
1Pathology Division, Central Veterinary Research Laboratory, Backweston Campus, Celbridge, Co. Kildare Ireland.
Background:
Clostridium difficile is a recognised cause of typhlocolitis and diarrhoea in neonatal pigs but has never been confirmed in association with pathology and disease in Irish pigs.
Case Presentation:
Four neonatal piglets, with a history of diarrhoea were referred to the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory, Backweston for necropsy. They were from a fully integrated, commercial pig farm with approximately 1000 sows. Three piglets had acute, superficial, erosive and suppurative typhlocolitis and the other had mild suppurative mesocolitis. Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) toxins A/B were detected using ELISA in the colonic contents from each piglet. C. difficile isolates from two of the piglets were PCR-ribotyped as 078 and an isolate from a third pig was ribotyped as 110.
Conclusions:
This is the first report confirming C. difficile in association with typhlocolitis in Irish pigs.
