Isolation and Toxin Typing of Clostridium Perfringens From Sheep, Goats, and Cattle in Fars Province, Iran

Clostridium perfringens is an important anaerobic bacterium found in the intestine of some livestock. It is concerned with the etiology of some diseases including enterotoxaemia. Various diseases are caused by different types of C. perfringens. Nonetheless, there is no published research on molecular typing and distribution of this pathogenic microorganism in Fars province.

Accordingly, our study focused on the isolation and toxin typing of C. perfringens from sheep, cattle, and goats in different parts of Fars province by the culture and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method.

Approximately 459 fecal samples were collected and cultured on defined media for the isolation of C. perfringens. The confirmed isolates were genotyped by the PCR method using specific primers.

C. perfringens was isolated from 30.93% of the total samples. The results of toxin typing showed a total of 76 (54%), 13 (9%), 30 (21%), and 23 (16%) isolates as types A, B, C, and D, respectively.

Our results indicated that C. perfringens type A was the most common type in sheep, cattle, and goats while the lowest number of isolates belonged to type B. Finally, the isolation of C. perfringens and toxin typing increase our knowledge of the epidemiology of these diseases and can help in the vaccine industry and better controlling related diseases.