Cultural and physiological characteristics and antimicrobial susceptibility of Clostridium botulinum isolates from foodborne and infant botulism cases

Abstract

Isolates Clostridium botulinum from foodborne and infant botulism cases in the United States were compared on the basis of toxigenicity, cultural and biochemical characteristics, metabolic products, and susceptibility to antimicrobial agents. Seventy-eight strains, including 42 from foodborne and 36 from infant botulism sources, were examined. Cultures on anaerobic blood agar exhibited circular, spindle, and rhizoid (medusa head) colonies. Overall, the characteristics of isolates from foodborne and infant botulism cases were quite similar. We concluded that it was not possible to differentiate C. botulinum isolates associated with foodborne botulism from those recovered from infant botulism cases. All of the 78 strains produced an unidentified indole derivative(s), detected with paradimethylaminocinnamaldehyde reagent, and hydrocinnamic acid, detected by gas-liquid chromatography; all exhibited a high degree of resistance to cycloserine, sulfamethoxazole, and trimethoprim. These characteristics should prove to be useful in the isolation and identification of C. botulinum from mixed microbial populations.

Distinction between Clostridium botulinum type A strains associated with food-borne botulism and those with infant botulism in Japan in intraintestinal toxin production in infant mice and some other properties

“…The antigenicities of the toxin were different between the two groups; that of the toxic component partially, while that of the nontoxic component entirely, as the nontoxic component formed no precipitation line to heterologous antitoxin [1]. In the biochemical tests, there was no difference between the two groups as reported by Dezfurian et al [13].…”

Isolation and enumeration of Clostridium botulinum by direct inoculation of infant fecal specimens on egg yolk agar and Clostridium botulinum isolation media

“…The medium is similar to EYA but contains cycloserine, sulfamethoxazole, and trimethoprim. The antimicrobial agents inhibit the majority of microorganisms present in the feces but do not inhibit group I C. botulinum (toxin types A, B, and F), which includes the types involved in infant botulism (1). This group of C. botulinum grows on CBI and exhibits lipase activity.…”

“…Production of botulinal toxin alone by a lipase-positive organism was considered sufficient for identifying an isolate as C. botulinum. Complete characterization of the organisms isolated in the original laboratory examination showed that they were typical of proteolytic strains of C. botulinum (1).…”

Kinetics of growth and toxigenicity of Clostridium botulinum in experimental wound botulism

“…Once the symptoms of botulism appeared in mice, neither treatment was helpful. Metronidazole was selected for this study because of its unique bactericidal activity against anaerobic bacteria (13), because of in vitro studies showing that C. botulinum is highly sensitive to metronidazole (5,15), and because of a previous study showing the unique efficacy of metronidazole as compared with alternative drugs for the delayed treatment of infections involving Bacteroidesfragilis (1). The utility of antimicrobial agents in treating patients with wound botulism is unclear (10,12).…”