This study investigated incidence and toxin genotyping of Clostridium perfringens isolated from ducks and farm workers. Caecal contents of 125 ducks including apparently healthy (n=100) and diseased (n=25) ducks; and stool specimens of farm workers (n=25) were randomly collected from duck farms at Sharkia governorate, Egypt. Also, caecal contents (n=25) and meat (n=25) of ducks were collected from retail outlets at Sharkia governorate, Egypt. Samples were cultured on tryptose sulfite cycloserine agar supplied with Perfringens selective supplement then isolates were biochemically identified. Toxin genotyping of 17 C. perfringens
isolates was performed by multiplex PCR. In duck farms, C. perfringens was isolated from 80% of healthy ducks, 84% of diseased one and 80% of in contact workers. In retail outlets, caecal contents and meat of ducks showed infection rates of 72% and 4%, respectively. The frequency distribution of cpa gene in
farms was 80% in healthy ducks, 100% in diseased birds and 66.6% in apparently healthy workers. In retail outlets, cpa had frequency distribution of 66.6% in caecal contents and 100% in duck meat. Therefore, presence of C. perfringens type A and its associated cpa gene in caecal contents and meat of ducks confirmed its zoonotic hazard and public health implications.