Clostridioides difficile reservoirs other than humans are becoming increasingly recognized, and the occurrence of the pathogen in shellfish raises concern because spores can survive cooking temperature and edible bivalve mollusks are often consumed raw or poorly cooked. This study was conducted to determine the occurrence of pathogenic C. difficile in retail bivalve mollusks. The microbiological quality of samples was also checked through the isolation of Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli. We analyzed 129 mollusk samples from different fishmongers and grocery stores in Murcia. C. difficile was isolated from 8.53% (11/129) of the mollusks investigated. Four C. difficile isolates harbored genes for the production of toxin A and B. Salmonella spp. were not isolated from any sample and E. coli was isolated from 1.55% (2/129) of the samples, in both cases in accordance with the current legal requirements for consumption. Our findings indicate that the intake of raw or poorly cooked contaminated bivalve mollusks could be a potential source of C. difficile, leading to a risk for human health.

除人类以外的艰难梭菌贮藏库也越来越受到人们的关注，贝类中病原体的出现引起人们的关注，因为孢子可以在烹饪温度下生存，而食用双壳贝类软体动物通常是生吃或煮得不好。进行这项研究来确定在零售双壳贝类软体动物中致病性艰难梭菌的发生。还通过分离沙门氏菌检查了样品的微生物质量。和大肠杆菌。我们分析了穆尔西亚不同鱼贩和杂货店的129种软体动物样品。从8.53％（11/129）的软体动物中分离出艰难梭菌。四个艰难梭菌隔离生产毒素A和B的窝藏基因沙门氏菌属。均未从任何样品中分离出大肠杆菌，并且从两种样品中均分离出了大肠埃希菌，这两种情况均符合当前的消费法律要求。我们的发现表明，摄入未加工或烹饪不良的污染的双壳贝类软体动物可能是艰难梭菌的潜在来源，从而导致人类健康风险。