PSEUDOMEMBRANOUS ENTERITIS ASSOCIATED WITH CIPROFLOXACIN AND CLOSTRIDIUM-DIFFICILE IN A PENGUIN (EUDYPTES-CHRYSOLOPHUS)

Ciprofloxacin was used to treat a chronic foot infection in a Macaroni penguin, Eudyptes chrysolophus. After 8 days of antibiotic therapy, n ormal coliform flora of the gut were absent and only ciprofloxacin-res istant Aerococcus viridans, Pseudomonas cepacia, Clostridium difficile , and Rhodotorula rubra remained. Overgrowth of Clostridium difficile, a known toxin-producing organism, apparently led to pseudomembranous enteritis similar to the syndrome described in other species being tre ated with fluroquinolone antibiotics.