Prevalence of Clostridium difficile in Uncooked Ground Meat Products from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe prevalence ofClostridium difficilein retail meat samples has varied widely. The food supply may be a source forC. difficileinfections. A total of 102 ground meat and sausage samples from 3 grocers in Pittsburgh, PA, were cultured forC. difficile. Brand A pork sausages were resampled between May 2011 and January 2012. Two out of 102 (2.0%) meat products initially sampled were positive forC. difficile; both were pork sausage from brand A from the same processing facility (facility A). On subsequent sampling of brand A products, 10/19 samples from processing facility A and 1/10 samples from 3 other facilities were positive forC. difficile. The isolates recovered were inferred ribotype 078, comprising 6 genotypes. The prevalence ofC. difficilein retail meat may not be as high as previously reported in North America. When contamination occurs, it may be related to events at processing facilities.