Clostridium perfringens mostly can be found on raw meat and poultry, and in the intestines of animals. Contaminated meat has caused many outbreaks. Because the spores of some strains are resistant to temperatures as high as 100°C for more than l h, their presence in foods may be unavoidable.
Once inside the gastrointestinal tract, Clostridium perfringens produces an enterotoxin that acts on the small bowel. Clostridium perfringens types A, C, and D produce an enterotoxin that is implicated in the pathogenesis of disease caused by this organism.
Only Clostridium perfringens type A has been definitively linked to this food poisoning syndrome. Clostridium perfringens type A is a significant cause of foodborne illness in Western countries because of its spore-forming ability, rapid growth, and ability to produce an enterotoxin.
Clostridium perfringens type A strains producing alpha-toxin encoded by the cpa gene, also known as phospholipase C, encoded by the plc gene, that concomitantly produce the Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (CPE).
Production and release of CPE in the gastrointestinal tract causes diarrhea and has been associated with spore formation and lysis of the mother cell in the gut.
Illness typically occurs 8-15 h after ingestion of the contaminated food. The symptoms, which include intense abdominal cramps, gas, and diarrhea (nausea and vomiting are rare), have been attributed to a protein enterotoxin produced during sporulation of the organism in the intestine.
Clostridium perfringens type A food poisoning
