Improvement of Laboratory Diagnosis for Detection and Identification of Bovine Clostridiosis

Abstract

Objective: Clostridiosis is a toxic infectious disease; the pathogenicity factor of causative agents is the secreted toxins. A characteristic feature of clostridiosis pathogens is their polytropism. They affect both humans and agricultural, domestic, and wild animals. Our research aimed to monitor Clostridium perfringens and Clostridium difficile spread among agricultural organizations of the Ural region. Materials and Methods: 137 biological samples were obtained from cattle with symptoms of clostridial infection. For PCR species and toxinotype identification commercial kits and previously described protocols were used. Results verification was conducted using MALDI-TOF MS. Results: Out of 137 samples of selected material Clostridium was detected in 40.6% of samples: Cl. difficile in 35.8%, Cl. perfringens in 25.3%, Cl. difficile+Cl. perfringens in 16.4%. Cl. difficile and Cl. perfringens were found in 30.5% of fecal samples, in pathological material from dead calves and cows – 8.7%, in milk samples – 1.4%. Conclusion: Laboratory methods made it possible to verify the diagnosis: infectious anaerobic enterotoxemia of calves in one case, necrotic enteritis in 3 animals, and intestinal toxic infection caused by Cl. perfringens type A in 2 cows and 5 calves. The diagnostics of toxinotypes of Cl. perfringens have made it possible to conduct toxin-specific vaccination against clostridial infection in farms.