Prevalence of Clostridium difficile and its toxigenic genotype in beef samples in west of Iran

Background and Objectives: Clostridium difficile is the leading cause of nosocomial diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis. The prevalence of C. difficile infection differs in various geographical areas. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of C. difficile isolates and the prevalence of cdd3, tcdA and tcdB genes in beef samples in Kermanshah Province. Materials and Methods: One hundred ground beef samples were randomly collected from the butchers of Kermanshah province during March 2014 to March 2015. Following alcohol shock, minced meat samples were incubated in a specific culture medium for 5 to 7 days. The suspicious colonies were analyzed by biochemical tests and frequency of C. difficile and cdd3, tcdA and tcdB genes was assessed by PCR using specific primers. Results: In total, 30% samples were positive for C. difficile and all the isolates harbored Cdd3 gene. Combined dual-gene frequency of A+B+, A-B+ and A+B- strains in the positive were 0%, 3.3%, and 26.6% respectively, while 21 samples (70%) were non-toxigenic (A-B-). Conclusion: In this study, the presence of C. difficile in beef as a source of contamination was confirmed. It was also shown that the incidence of C. difficile in ground meat was relatively higher than many other studies.