Clostridioides difficile in newborn calves

• Grant number: 22/00708-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: May 01, 2022
• End date: February 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Clinics and Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Secorun Borges
• Grantee: Fabricio Moreira Cerri
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Clostridioides difficile is the causative agent of the clinical picture of pseudomembranous colitis in humans and mammals, resulting in diarrhea. However, the importance of this agent in cattle is not completely known, and further research is needed to better understand it. Therefore, the objective of the present work is to describe the occurrence of C. difficile in newborn calves, comparing two detection methods (anaerobic culture and qPCR). For this, 250 stool samples will be collected from newborn calves (0-21 days), in at least 20 properties. These will be divided into three groups: beef calves raised on pasture and dairy calves raised in intensive and semi-intensive systems selected randomly. The fecal samples will be cultured in an anaerobic chamber, for isolation and identification of colonies and determination of the sensitivity profile. The ribotyping of the isolated strains will occur with the aid of multiplex PCR, for the 16S and 23S genes. It will also be performed the extraction of DNA from feces for qPCR for detection of C. difficilie, toxins A (TcdA) and B (TcdB).