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So I'm looking for some information on the infectious dose necessary to colonize a human with Clostridium difficile. There's no human challenge studies, and since it's not a foodborne pathogen, little we can get from outbreak data.

Which leaves me looking at animal models, to at least get the shape of the probability of infection based on a given dose. But the papers on hamsters makes it appear that they're infected rather easily, and that this infection is particularly severe.

Is there another animal model that more closely mimics the infection dynamics of C. difficile in humans?

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In any event... have you seen this? –  user132 Dec 17 '11 at 1:00
I have now - thanks –  Fomite Dec 17 '11 at 1:07

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up vote 4 down vote accepted

Hamsters are considered the best animal model, most studied.
C. difficile has been found in calves, ostriches, chickens, elephants, dogs, horses, and pigs, but its role in infection and its pathogenesis in animals are largely poorly understood and possibly underestimated

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