Prevalence of Q fever in domestic animals with reproductive disorders.
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.
Vaidya
Vilas M
VM
Division of Veterinary Public Health, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar 243122, India. drvilasmvaidya@rediffmail.com
Malik
S V S
SV
Bhilegaonkar
K N
KN
Rathore
R S
RS
Kaur
Simranpreet
S
Barbuddhe
S B
SB
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*
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D004269:DNA, Bacterial