Asma Afshari - Graduate Student, School of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
Abdollah Jamshidi - Department of Food Hygiene, School of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
Jamshid Razmyar - Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
Mehrnaz Rad - Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

Clostridium perfringens is an important cause of bacterial food poisoning worldwide. The disease is caused by C. perfringens enterotoxin (CPE) encoded by cpe gene. The aim of this research was to identify the different types of C. perfringens and the presence of cpe gene in isolated bacteria from broilers’ meat marketed in retail meat shops of Mashhad city in Northeastern of Iran. After isolation of C. perfringens using conventional culture method and confirmation by specific ۱۶S rDNA gene, a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay with specific primers, were performed for toxin typing of isolates. Clostridium perfringens was isolated from ۳۱ broilers’ meat samples (۱۵.۵۰%) out of ۲۰۰ samples and for toxin typing the results showed ۹ isolates as type A (۲۹.۰۳%) and ۲۲ isolates as type C (۷۰.۹۶%). In this study, cpe-positive C. perfringens were detected in eight isolates of type C (۲۵.۰۰%). Our results indicated that C. perfringens type C is the most common type in broiler chicken carcasses.

Clostridium perfringens, cpe gene, Multiplex PCR