Clostridium chauvoei

{{Short description|Species of bacterium}}

{{Speciesbox

| image =

| image_caption =

| genus = Clostridium

| species = chauvoei

| authority = (Arloing et al. 1887) Scott 1928

}}

Clostridium chauvoei is an anaerobic, motile, Gram-positive bacterium. It is a soil-borne pathogen that can cause blackleg in cattle and sheep. It is named after Auguste Chauveau, a French bacteriologist and veterinarian.[https://lpsn.dsmz.de/genus/clostridium lpsn.dsmz.de, list of prokaryotic names with standing nomenclature].

It is mainly considered to be an veterinary pathogen, but at least two severe cases of human infection have been reported.{{cite journal | vauthors = Nagano N, Isomine S, Kato H, Sasaki Y, Takahashi M, Sakaida K, Nagano Y, Arakawa Y | display-authors = 6 | title = Human fulminant gas gangrene caused by Clostridium chauvoei | journal = Journal of Clinical Microbiology | volume = 46 | issue = 4 | pages = 1545–7 | date = April 2008 | pmid = 18256217 | pmc = 2292918 | doi = 10.1128/JCM.01895-07 | url = }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Weatherhead JE, Tweardy DJ | title = Lethal human neutropenic entercolitis caused by Clostridium chauvoei in the United States: tip of the iceberg? | journal = The Journal of Infection | volume = 64 | issue = 2 | pages = 225–7 | date = February 2012 | pmid = 21945880 | doi = 10.1016/j.jinf.2011.09.004 | url = https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0163445311004890 | url-access = subscription }} Indigenous knowledge from Fula people in Cameroon and Maasai people in Tanzania suggest that zoonotic infection with C. chauvoei may be common among pastoralists.{{cite journal | vauthors = Gaddy HG | title = Using local knowledge in emerging infectious disease research | journal = Social Science & Medicine | volume = 258 | pages = 113107 | date = August 2020 | pmid = 32563166 | pmc = 7292947 | doi = 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113107 | url = }} However, these reports may also be due to infection with other Clostridium strains that can cause blackleg, such as C. septicum.

A study conducted in Taiwan found a correlation between flooding and how often C. chauvoei was found in soil samples. This is attributed to flood waters dispersing the bacteria throughout the environment.{{cite journal | vauthors = Huang SW, Chan JP, Shia WY, Shyu CL, Tung KC, Wang CY | title = The utilization of a commercial soil nucleic acid extraction kit and PCR for the detection of Clostridium tetanus and Clostridium chauvoei on farms after flooding in Taiwan | journal = The Journal of Veterinary Medical Science | volume = 75 | issue = 4 | pages = 489–95 | date = May 2013 | pmid = 23208321 | doi = 10.1292/jvms.12-0271 | doi-access = free }}