Zakażenie Clostridioides difficile jako zoonoza i antroponoza

Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile is the most common cause of antibiotic and hospital associated diarrhea and severe colitis in humans and also in dogs, cats, horses, cattle and pigs. It appears to be an emerging zoonotic and reversely zoonotic pathogen The primary virulence factors of C. difficile are the two major toxins, toxin A (TcdA) and toxin B (TcdB). Some strains of C. difficile may also produce an ADP-ribosylating binary toxin (CDT). Dogs and cats in animal shelters are a reservoir of human pathogenic C. difficile. Small animals can potentially act as vectors for the transmission of the organism to humans via direct contact or indirect transmission through raw food, or through contaminated water. Inversely, toxin producing ribotypes 014, 027 and 078 of C. difficile can be transmitted from humans to animals. Our article aims at the presentation of this emerging animal associated disease, its pathogenesis, and methods of control.