Clostridium Difficile Identification from Environmental Samples: A Study Comparing Three Different Identification Methodologies

Isolation and identification of Clostridium difficile (C.diff) spores from environmental samples is difficult. C.diff chromogenic agar (bioMérieux Inc., Durham, NC) has been previously described for the identification of clinical but not environmental specimens. Similarly, C.diff latex agglutination tests (Microgen Bioproducts Ltd, Surrey, UK) have been used for identification of environmental specimens, but these tests have not been compared to Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization-Time of Flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS, bioMérieux Inc.) or to C.diff chromogenic agar.