title: Prevalence of Q fever in domestic animals with reproductive disorders.
abstract: The occurrence of Coxiella burnetii in animals with reproductive disorders was studied. A total of 920 samples (genital and faecal swabs, milk, urine and serum) were collected from cows (88), buffaloes (33), sheep (43) and goats (53) with a history of reproductive disorders and screened for C. burnetii by a PCR assay targeting the repetitive transposon-like region of C. burnetii (trans-PCR), real-time PCR, indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and isolation method. The overall prevalence of Q fever in animals with the history of reproductive disorders turned out to be 13.82%. The species-wise prevalence of Q fever among animals was observed to be 12.78% in cattle, 16.66% in buffaloes, 11.04% in sheep and 6.13% in goats. In comparison to IFA, the highest sensitivity (85.18%) was shown by both PCR assays followed by ELISA (74.07%) and isolation method (14.81%) whereas, isolation method was the most specific (100%) followed by both PCR assays (99.47%) and ELISA (98.44%). The high excretion rate of pathogen particularly in milk observed in the study posses a potential public health threat from infected animals.
authors.affiliation: Division of Veterinary Public Health, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar 243122, India. drvilasmvaidya@rediffmail.com
authors.forename: Vilas M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Vaidya
authors.forename: S V S
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.forename: K N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Bhilegaonkar
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Rathore
authors.forename: Simranpreet
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaur
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Barbuddhe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D002020:Buffaloes; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006041:Goats; D007246:Infertility / Q000209:etiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology; D011778:Q Fever / Q000150:complications / Q000662:veterinary*; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D004269:DNA, Bacterial