Abstract

It is generally accepted that Clostridium perfringens strains associated with food poisoning carry their enterotoxin gene, cpe, on the chromosome, while C perfringens strains isolated from non-food-borne diseases, such as antibiotic-associated diarrhea and sporadic diarrhea, carry cpe on the plasmid. However, we recently encountered a food poisoning outbreak caused by C perfringens bearing a plasmid cpe. We therefore investigated a total of 31 clinical and non-clinical C perfringens strains to locate the cpe gene by PCR. The cpe of nine heat-sensitive (100degreesC for 10 min) strains isolated from three outbreaks of food poisoning were located on the plasmid, while those of six heat-resistant strains from other food poisoning outbreaks were located on the chromosome. Moreover, the cpe of 5 heat-sensitive strains isolated from healthy human feces and those of 11 heat-sensitive soil strains were also located on the plasmid. These findings indicate that heat-sensitive, cpe-plasmid-borne C perfringens strains should not be disregarded as causative agents of food poisoning. (C) 2004 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.