Toxigenic Clostridium perfringens from a parvovirus-infected dog.

A strain of Clostridium perfringens, type A, has been isolated from the intestine of a dog which died from parvovirus infection. This Clostridium strain produces a toxin which can be detected by counterimmunoelectrophoresis, using C. difficile antitoxin, and produces cytotoxicity in WI-38 cell culture. Cytopathology can be blocked by C. difficile antitoxin. Its role in canine parvovirus infection is unknown.