this invention comprises a multiplex - capable oligonucleotide which is capable of hybridizing to at least one of the c . difficile tcdb , tcdc , or cdtb genes , wherein , wherein said primer consists of a sequence selected from the group consisting of seq id nos : 1 through 9 , or a sequence that exhibits no more than one substitution of a base to a sequence selected from the group consisting of seq id nos : 1 through 9 and method for polymerase chain reaction determining of the presence of a toxigenic strain of c . difficile in a biological sample utilizing said probes .