Summary
In the last 20 years, C. difficile has become accepted as an enteric pathogen in horses, particularly in Europe and the USA but not universally in Australia. Faecal samples from at least 200 horses of different breeds (although has been shown not to be important), ages and sex will be investigated. Specimens will be collected from horses with diarrhoea (>100) and without (>100). Data will be collected on antibiotic exposure and other potential risk factors. In addition, samples will be collected from the different environments in which horses are found, such as stables and paddocks, to ascertain the extent of environmental contamination, and its relation to infection. Environmental samples will also be collected from veterinary clinics that treat horses, as previous work has shown that veterinary clinics can become grossly contaminated with C. difficile, potentially posing a risk to animals and veterinarians. Specimens will be processed using published methods that we have developed over 25 years. These include culture on cycloserinecefoxitinfructose agar anaerobically, and the use of an enrichment broth. Faecal cytotoxin will be detected in Vero cell monolayers. Putative isolates will be identified by speciesspecific PCR that will also identify the presence of toxin A, B and binary toxin genes. Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns will be determined by agar dilution and Estrip, and the relationship between C. difficile diarrhoea and antibiotic exposure assessed.
Program
Thoroughbred Horses
Research Organisation
University of Western Australia
Objective Summary
The objectives of this project are to determine: a) the prevalence of Clostridium difficile in the gastrointestinal tract of horses in Australia in relation to age, occurrence of diarrhoea and history of exposure to antibiotics; b) the occurrence of C. difficile in the equine environment; and c) production of toxins by and the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of any strains isolated. This project addresses one of the industry’s key longterm strategies: disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
Project Code
PRJ-000268
Project Stage
Closed
Project Start Date
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Project Completion Date
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Journal Articles From Project
Not Available
National Priority
Frontier technologies for building and transforming Australian industries
National Priority
Adoption of R&D
National Priority
HOR-Reduce the incidence and impact of diseases and parasites in horses