Production of Enterotoxin by Clostridium perfringens Derived from Humans, Animals, Foods, and the Natural Environment in Japan

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Abstract
The enterotoxigenicity of Clostridium perfringens derived from the feces of humans and from food and water sampled in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, was examined. The highest rates of detection of this bacterial species were in professional food handlers, dogs, swine, cattle, quails, and oysters. The next highest rates was water sampled near the shore or near river mouths, which may be a sourc of contamination to fish and shellfish. In all, 573 strains of C. perfringens derived from fecal and food samples by the direct smear or enrichment methods, and 220 strains derived from water samples by the Membrane filter method were examined for enterotoxin production. Strains that produced enterotoxin were isolated from 5 (6%) of the 80 food handlers tested, from 2 (2%) of the 106 dogs, from 5 (12%) of the 41 oysters, and from 2 (10%) of the 20 samples of water. Twenty enterotoxin-producing strains isolated from these samples produced enterotoxin with a titer by reversed passive latex agglutination of 100–105, and one strain was typed as Hobbs' serotype 1; the others could not be typed.