Abstract
Background:
Clostridium perfringens (Cp) is an emerging anaerobic pathogen that can aggravate sever fatal infections in different hosts and livestock.
Aim:
This paper was designed to monitor the antibacterial efficacy of Moringa oleifera (M. oleifera) plant against different CP isolates of variant toxin genotypes comparing that with commercial antibiotics in veterinary field.
Methods:
Total of 200 examined fecal, intestinal and liver samples from cattle, sheep and goats were investigated bacteriologically and biochemically for C. perfringens. Then the isolates were examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for toxin genes typing. Thereafter, the antimicrobial susceptibility testing as well as the antibacterial efficacy of M. oleifera were evaluated and statistically analyzed against recovered isolates.
Results:
The prevalence rate of CP was 51% (102/200); of which 54.5% was from cattle, 50% from sheep and 40% from goat. Moreover, all CP isolates were highly resistant to tetracycline and lincomycin drugs; meanwhile they were of the least resistance against ciprofloxacin (8.3%-16.7%), cefotaxime (16.7%-25%) and gentamycin (26.7%-33.3%). For M. oleifera, high antibacterial efficacy with greater inhibition zones of the plant was recorded with its oil (20-24 mm) and ethanolic extracts (16-20 mm) against C. perfringens than the aqueous extract (≤10 mm). A good correlation was stated between M. oleifera oil and toxin type of C. perfringens isolates particularly type A followed by D and B types. Interestingly, the oil and ethanolic extracts of M. oleifera gave higher antibacterial efficacy than most commercial antibiotics against the recovered isolates.
Conclusion:
This study highlighted the potent antibacterial properties of M. oleifera for suppressing C. perfringens isolated from farm animals; hence, more investigations on M. oleifera are suggested to support its use as a medical herbal plant substituting antibiotics hazards and resistance problems worldwide.

Key words: Antibacterial efficacy, C. perfringens, Genotyping, Moringa oleifera, PCR