Susceptibility of clostridium difficile isolated from healthy captive asian elephants to metronidazole and vancomycin

Abstract

Susceptibility to metronidazole and vancomycin, drugs of choice for Clostridium difficile infection, of 15 C. difficile isolates from 6 healthy Asian elephants was determined. All of the isolates belonged to only 1 ribotype pattern and carried both toxin A and B genes. The Minimal inhibitory concentration range of metronidazole and vancomycin, drugs of choice for treatment of C. difficile infection, was 0.125-4.0 μg/ml and 0.125-2.0 μg/ml, respectively. Moreover, MIC50 and MIC90 for metronidazole were 0.75 and 1.5 μg/ml while vancomycin was 1.0 and 2.0 μg/ml. There was no evidence of resistance to these antimicrobials. These results might be a preliminary data for further study of animal C. difficile.