Determination of Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile presence, characterization and antibiotic susceptibility profile in heat treated poultry meat products

Clostridioides difficile is an obligate anaerobic bacterium that multiplies by spores, serving as a significant source of nosocomial infections and capable of inducing serious intestinal infections through its toxin production. However, infections can also be spread through both animal and non-animal food sources. This is important for both healthcare-associated infections and community-associated infections. Despite exposure to elevated temperatures, heat-processed meat and meat products can disseminate C. difficile spores. Poultry meat and its products, recognized as a prevalent source of animal protein consumption within our nation, present a potential avenue for contamination by C. difficile. This thesis aimed to isolate C. difficile from packaged and open heat-treated poultry meat products, perform toxin characterization, and investigate antibiotic susceptibility profiles of by C. difficile isolates. While 15,6% of the 474 samples analyzed were suspicious for the presence of by C. difficile, 9,07% of the total samples were positive. While 58,11% of the positive isolates were positive for the presence of the tpi gene, it was determined that most of the tpi+ samples belonged to chicken products and a small portion belonged to turkey meat. Among the poultry meat samples analyzed, 16,21% exhibited negative results for both the tcdA and tcdB genes, and 8,10% tested positive solely for the tcdB gene, while a significant 75,67% were positive for both tcdA and tcdB genes. All positive isolates were susceptible to vancomycin, 93% to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, 86% to both metronidazole and tetracycline, 88,4% to ampicillin, 72,1% to clindamycin, and 58,1% to imipenem. Given the consumption habits in our country, the isolation of C. difficile in heat-treated poultry products, particularly chicken products, was considered an important indicator for raising producer and consumer awareness about protection against C. difficile infections. The positive isolates were sensitive to vancomycin but not to cefotaxime or imipenem. This suggests that vancomycin may be a beneficial way to treat C. difficile infections in our country.