Preprint Communication Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Occurrence of Clostridium perfringens in Wild Mammals in the Amazon Biome

Hanna Gabriela da Silva Oliveira
ORCID logo ,
Ananda Iara de Jesus Sousa
,
Isabela Paduá Zanon
,
Cinthia Távora de Albuquerque Lopes
,
Rodrigo Otavio Silveira Silva
ORCID logo ,
Sheyla Farhayldes Souza Domingues
,
Felipe Masiero Salvarani
* ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 21 March 2024 / Approved: 22 March 2024 / Online: 23 March 2024 (09:34:24 CET)

How to cite: Oliveira, H.G.D.S.; Sousa, A.I.D.J.; Zanon, I.P.; Lopes, C.T.D.A.; Silva, R.O.S.; Domingues, S.F.S.; Salvarani, F.M. Occurrence of Clostridium perfringens in Wild Mammals in the Amazon Biome. Preprints 2024, 2024031396. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202403.1396.v1 Oliveira, H.G.D.S.; Sousa, A.I.D.J.; Zanon, I.P.; Lopes, C.T.D.A.; Silva, R.O.S.; Domingues, S.F.S.; Salvarani, F.M. Occurrence of Clostridium perfringens in Wild Mammals in the Amazon Biome. Preprints 2024, 2024031396. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202403.1396.v1

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of Clostridium perfringens in stool samples and swabs collected from wild mammals in the Amazon biome. Sixty-five faecal and swab samples were collected in situ and ex situ from 16 species and three genera of wild mammals, some of which were in good health and some of which had diarrhoea. After pre-enrichment, the samples were plated on selective agar for C. perfringens. Characteristic colonies were subjected to multiplex PCR for the detection of genes encoding the main C. perfringens toxins (alpha, beta, epsilon, and iota toxin and enterotoxin). Among the 65 samples, 40 (61.5%) were positive for the gene encoding the alpha toxin and were classified as type A. Faecal samples were more than four times more likely to be positive for C. perfringens than were swab samples. No other toxinotypes were found. The findings of this study suggest that C. perfringens type A is commonly found as a commensal in mammal species of the Amazon biome. This seems to be the first study to identify C. perfringens type A in species such as B. variegatus (common ground sloth), C. didactylus (two-toed sloth), P. flavus (Jupará), T. tetradactyla (anteater), S. collinsi (squirrel monkey), S. niger (black marmoset), and S. apella (Guyana capuchin) and in the genus Didelphis sp. (opossum).

Keywords

alpha toxin; toxinotype A; wild mammals; diarrhoea

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Animal Science, Veterinary Science and Zoology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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