The methods currently used for the enumeration of Clostridium perfringens in food are often inadequate because of the rapid loss of viability of this organism when the sample is frozen or refrigerated. A method for estimating the presence of C. perfringens in food which utilizes the hemolytic and lecithinase activities of alpha toxin was developed. The hemolytic activity was measured in hemolys...

Clostridium perfringens is a Gram-positive anaerobic spore-forming bacterium that causes life-threatening gas gangrene and mild enterotoxaemia in humans, although it colonizes as normal intestinal flora of humans and animals. The organism is known to produce a variety of toxins and enzymes that are responsible for the severe myonecrotic lesions. Here we report the complete 3,031,430-bp sequence...

Investigations on the replacement of the mouse neutralisation test for proving vaccine batches of Clostridium (C.) perfringens toxoid vaccines were performed since several years. The European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) monograph Clostridium perfringens vaccines for veterinary use (0363) is prescribing a potency test by immunisation of rabbits and checking the induction of specific antibodies agai...

Clostridium perfringens is an important pathogen of animals and humans and is the causative agent of necrotic enteritis (NE) in poultry. This study focuses on the typing of intestinal C. perfringens isolates (n = 61) from outbreaks of NE collected from several areas of Southern Ontario, using a recently developed multilocus sequence typing (MLST) technique. For comparison, C. perfringens isolat...

When given by direct s.c. injection into the Ehrlich solid carcinoma 1 week after s.c. tumor transfer, viable crude spores of Clostridium perfringens type A (attenuated mutant strain LNG11 ATCC 29348) inhibited tumor growth and significantly prolonged the life span of male outbred Swiss mice. Under these conditions a concentrated sterile supernatant of a C. perfringens culture proved to be slig...

Proper temperature control is essential in preventing Clostridium perfringens food poisoning. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service cooling guidelines offer two options for the cooling of meat products: follow a standard time-temperature schedule or validate that alternative cooling regimens result in no more than a 1-log CFU/g increase of C. perfringens and no g...

Clostridium perfringens type A isolates producing enterotoxin (CPE) are an important cause of food poisoning and non-food-borne human gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, including antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD). Recent studies suggest that C. perfringens type A food poisoning is caused by C. perfringens isolates carrying a chromosomal cpe gene, while CPE-associated non-food-borne GI diseases,...

Clostridium perfringens type C strains that produce various toxins cause hemorrhagic noxious ulceration or mucousal necrosis of the small intestine in humans, pigs, cattle and chickens (Sakurai et al. 1997, Sakurai and Nagahama 2006). In humans, the bacteria cause necrotic enteritis, which is termed “pig-bel” (Sakurai and Nagahama 2006). C. perfringens has been classified into five types, A to ...

Clostridium perfringens is a medically important clostridial pathogen and an etiological agent causing several diseases in humans and animals. C. perfringens and its toxins have been listed as potential biological and toxin warfare (BTW) agents; thus, efforts to develop strategies for detection and protection are warranted. Forty-eight extracellular proteins of C. perfringens type A and type C ...

OBJECTIVES Owing to the spread of antibiotic resistance among human infectious agents, there is a need to research antibiotic alternatives for use in animal agricultural systems. Antibiotic-free broiler chicken production systems are known to suffer from frequent outbreaks of necrotic enteritis due in part to pathogenic type A Clostridium perfringens. Hop (Humulus lupulus) bitter acids are know...