TY - JOUR T1 - Agricultural fertilization with poultry manure results in persistent environmental contamination with the pathogen <em>Clostridioides difficile</em> JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2021.02.01.429155 SP - 2021.02.01.429155 AU - Martinique Frentrup AU - Nadine Thiel AU - Vera Junker AU - Wiebke Behrens AU - Steffen Münch AU - Paul Siller AU - Tina Kabelitz AU - Matthias Faust AU - Alexander Indra AU - Stefanie Baumgartner AU - Kerstin Schepanski AU - Thomas Amon AU - Uwe Roesler AU - Roger Funk AU - Ulrich Nübel Y1 - 2021/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/02/02/2021.02.01.429155.abstract N2 - During a field experiment applying broiler manure for fertilization of agricultural land, we detected viable Clostridioides (formerly, Clostridium) difficile in broiler feces, manure, dust, and fertilized soil. A large diversity of toxigenic C. difficile isolates was recovered, including PCR ribotypes common from human disease. Genomic relatedness of C. difficile isolates from dust and from soil, recovered more than two years after fertilization, traced their origins to the specific chicken farm that had delivered the manure. We present evidence of long-term contamination of agricultural soil with manure-derived C. difficile and demonstrate the potential for airborne dispersal of C. difficile through dust emissions during manure application. Clostridioides genome sequences virtually identical to those from manure had been recovered from chicken meat and from human infections in previous studies, suggesting broiler-associated C. difficile are capable of zoonotic transmission.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest. ER -