Isolation and genotyping of Clostridium perfringens from goats in Minas Gerais, Brazil

• Main Authors: Jordana Almeida Santana, Ana Carolina de Andrade Ferreira, Marina de Castro Campos de Souza, Maria Aparecida Scatamburlo Moreira, Magna Coroa Lima, Diogo Soares Gonçalves Cruz, Francisco Carlos Faria Lobato, Rodrigo Otávio Silveira Silva
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal de Santa Maria 2018-07-01
• Series: Ciência Rural
• Subjects: Clostridium perfringens type D; microbiota; epsilon; beta
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-84782018000700452&lng=en&tlng=en
• ISSN: 1678-4596

ABSTRACT: Despite the known importance of Clostridium perfringens as an enteropathogen in small ruminants, little is known about the role of its additional virulence factors or the frequency of the various C. perfringens genotypes in healthy goats; this complicates the laboratory diagnosis of the infections caused by this microorganism. In light of this, the aim of the present study was to isolate and genotype C. perfringens from stool samples from healthy goats in Brazil. Stool samples from 250 apparently healthy adult goats from 17 different herds in Minas Gerais, Brazil were collected, and isolation and genotyping of C. perfringens was performed. C. perfringens type A was isolated from 189 (75.6%) goats, whereas C. perfringens types C and D were each detected in one goat (0.4%). All isolates were negative for enterotoxin-, NetB-, NetE-, and NetF-encoding genes. These results confirmed C. perfringens type A as part of the microbiota in these animals, and they suggested that C. perfringens type C and D are rarely isolated from healthy goats.