WGS of 47 isolates of C.difficile ribotype 046 from both humans and pigs in Sweden.

Clostridioides difficile ribotype 046 (RT046) is found in newborn piglets in Sweden and has caused a hospital-based outbreak. How closely related these isolates are is not known. We found that the C. difficile RT 046 from pigs were closely related and genetically conserved over time and clearly separated from the human hospital outbreak isolates. WGS dramatically increase the resolution in epidemiological typing of C. difficile compared to traditional typing methods and is becoming an important instrument both in outbreak-investigations and when trying to understand the transmission of C. difficile.