Laboratory identification of anaerobic bacteria isolated on Clostridium difficile selective medium.

Despite increasing interest in the bacterium, the methodology for Clostridium difficile recovery has not yet been standardized. Cycloserine-cefoxitin fructose taurocholate (CCFT) has historically been the most used medium for C. difficile isolation from human, animal, environmental, and food samples, and presumptive identification is usually based on colony morphologies. However, CCFT is not totally selective. This study describes the recovery of 24 bacteria species belonging to 10 different genera other than C. difficile, present in the environment and foods of a retirement establishment that were not inhibited in the C. difficile selective medium. These findings provide insight for further environmental and food studies as well as for the isolation of C. difficile on supplemented CCFT.