Clostridium perfringens in suckling piglets with diarrhoea and its PCR typing and prevalence in the Czech Republic in 2001-2003

Abstract

Out of the total of 153 farms under investigation that had been experiencing diarrhoea in suckling piglets, the presence of Clostridium perfringens was detected on 60 farms (39.2%). PCR typing of isolates prepared by anaerobic cultivation was carried out by multiplex PCR. C. perfringens type A (37.9%) and type C (1.3%) were detected on 58 and 2 farms, respectively. The cpb2 gene was found in 79.3% strains of C. perfringens type A and in 100% strains of type C. An evaluation of the prevalence of positive identification of C. perfringens with the cpb2 gene shows that the microorganism was diagnosed on large farms with the basic herd of over 700 or 1 000 sows significantly more frequently. None of the isolates was positive as to the specific sequences of the enterotoxin-coding gene.