Clostridium difficile toxins in meat-producing guinea pigs in the highlands of Peru
The guinea pig is an important meat-producing animal in Peru as well as in several other South American countries. They are held in different kinds of systems, from the small backyard breeders with few animals to the large commercial farms with thousands of guinea pigs. One of the major issues at the farms is animals dying of unknown causes. Salmonellosis is often considered as a major cause, but samples for confirmation are rarely taken. It has been known for a long time that Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) toxins are lethal to guinea pigs. Several studies have also investigated and confirmed that treatment with antibiotics is a significant risk factor for development of C. difficile infection (CDI) in laboratory animals. C. difficile is a large, anaerobic, gram positive rod with two essential virulence factors, toxin A and toxin B. Until now there appear to be no published studies or reports on the possible occurrence of CDI in meat producing guinea pigs. The aim of this study was to investigate whether C. difficile infection exists in meat producing guinea pigs in the highlands of Peru. The study was performed by taking samples from 77 guinea pigs from 15 farms with 120-5000 animals on each farm, in the Mantaro valley in Peru. The samples were taken either by a rectal swab (22.0 %) or directly from the cecum (77.9 %) at necropsy. The clinical and pathologic findings in the selected animals primarily consisted of signs of diarrhea, poor general condition, ascites, typhlitis and enteritis. Some of the animals had been treated with antibiotics during the last week before the samples were taken. An enzyme immunoassay (EIA) was used to demonstrate the presence of C. difficile toxin A and/or B in the samples. One (1) animal was found toxin positive in the test. It was a neonate male from a large farm that at necropsy showed lesions consistent with severe typhlitis.