5. Conclusion
This report is the
first investigation on the occurrence of
C. difficile in meat rabbits. Our results show a low percentage of
C. difficile positive rabbits suggesting a limited role of this
microorganism in rabbit diseases. However, rabbits host hetero-
geneous C. difficile types most of which are commonly isolated in
human cases of CDI, such as RT 014/020, RT-078, RT-012 which
are the predominant ribotypes isolated in the European
hospitals, and the RT-017 that is an epidemic type reported in
Eastern Europe. Our study also reports that one third of rabbit
isolates displayed a reduced susceptibility to MTZ which is the
first
choice antimicrobial for human CDI treatment.
Therefore, it is not possible to exclude rabbits as potential
source of C. difficile for humans, at least for certain professional
categories such as breeders, slaughterers and veterinarians