Occurrence of Clostridium perfringens and Molecular Detection of Clostridioides difficile Toxin-Gene Targets in Foal Fecal Samples: A Multiregional Study in Türkiye

Clostridium perfringens and Clostridioides difficile are associated with equine enterocolitis, but data on foals in Türkiye are limited. This multiregional study examined 300 archived fecal samples from 2–6-month-old foals originating from 20 stud farms in five provinces. Gastrointestinal signs were recorded in ten foals; systematic clinical information was unavailable for 290. Clostridium perfringens was investigated by anaerobic culture followed by PCR confirmation and toxin-gene profiling (cpa, cpb, cpb2, etx, iap, cpe, and netB). Clostridioides difficile-specific DNA was investigated by PCR of DNA extracted from archived fecal material, targeting tpi, tcdA, and tcdB. Clostridium perfringens was confirmed in 50/300 samples (16.7%; 95% CI, 12.9–21.3%); confirmed isolates had a cpa-only profile among the genes investigated. The tpi target was detected in 12/300 samples (4.0%; 95% CI, 2.3–6.9%), of which seven also contained tcdA and tcdB (2.3% overall; 95% CI, 1.1–4.7%). cpa-confirmed C. perfringens and the C. difficile-specific tpi target was detected in samples from all five provinces; geographic comparisons were descriptive and exploratory. Because C. difficile was not cultured and toxin production was not assessed, the results represent species-specific and toxin-gene targets rather than viable toxigenic isolates or active disease. Clinical associations could not be evaluated. These findings provide multiregional baseline data and support prospective studies incorporating clinical assessment, culture, quantitative testing, and toxin detection.