Characterization of swine isolates of Clostridium difficile in Spain: a potential source of epidemic multidrug resistant strains?

Clostridium difficile is an emerging pathogen for humans and animals and there is concern about the possibility that livestock might serve as a reservoir of epidemic strains. In Spain, ribotype 078 is one of the most prevalent in human episodes of C. difficile infection, but the distribution of this and other ribotypes in animals is yet unknown. We present the first report on the ribotype distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility of C. difficile in swine in Spain. A total of 144 isolates were PCR ribotyped, and their MIC values for 13 antimicrobial agents were determined using the Etest. Toxins A and B production was assessed using a commercial immunoassay and, in the case of toxin B, a specific cytotoxicity test. Our results show a high prevalence of the toxigenic 078 ribotype (94.4%) and multidrug resistance (49.3%) among the studied isolates. A minority of isolates (5.6%) belonged to a mostly non-toxinogenic ribotype. All isolates were resistant to the fluoroquinolone ciprofloxacin, but susceptible to daptomycin, linezolid, meropenem, rifampicin, teicoplanin, tigecycline, metronidazole and vancomycin. Resistance to clindamycin, ertapenem, erythromycin and moxifloxacin was common (≥27.8% in all cases). Resistance rates for the different antibiotics tested were in all cases independent from the ribotype of isolates and the host's condition (diarrheic or non-diarrheic), but erythromycin and moxifloxacin resistance was associated with the geographic origin of isolates. Metronidazole heteroresistance was found among animal isolates of C. difficile. Our results highlight the role of livestock as a potential source of epidemic multidrug resistant strains in Spain.