Real-time PCR and typing of Clostridium difficile isolates colonizing mare–foal pairs

Clostridium difficile infection can occur in the dams of sick foals, but it is unknown if mares and foals share the same isolates. In this study, C. difficile isolates from fecal samples of 11 mares paired with 11 foals were genotyped by arbitrarily primed PCR; two mares and three foals in five mare-foal pairs had diarrhea. Fecal immunoassays were utilized to detect C. difficile common antigen and toxin A. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) systems were developed to detect genes for toxins A and B, as well as for binary toxin B. Sequences of all toxins were present in all isolates, although only one horse was positive for toxin A on fecal immunoassay. Identical strains of C. difficile were present in 4/11 (36.4%) mare-foal pairs. Mare-foal pairs can harbor C. difficile subclinically and are potential reservoirs for colonization of each other.