High prevalence of Clostridium difficile on retail root vegetables, Western Australia

摘要

AimsThe incidence of community-associated Clostridium difficile infection (CA-CDI) in Australia has increased since mid-2011. With reports of clinically important C.difficile strains being isolated from retail foods in Europe and North America, a foodborne source of C. difficile in cases of CA-CDI is a possibility. This study represents the first to investigate the prevalence and genotypes of C.difficile in Australian retail vegetables.