title: Seroepidemiological study of Q fever in small ruminants from Southeast Iran.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of Coxiella burnetii antibodies in small ruminants in Southeast Iran. A total of 368 small ruminant blood samples (241 caprine blood samples and 127 ovine blood samples) were collected from January to May of 2011 in Southeast Iran. A commercial ELISA test kit was employed to identify specific antibodies against C. burnetii in the sheep and goats. Seropositivity in the examined counties ranged from 17.1% to 39.2%. Of the animals tested, 97 animals (26.4%), including 43 sheep (33.9%) and 54 goats (22.4%), had antibodies to C. burnetii. The results of the current study reveal the high prevalence of antibody positivity in small ruminants in Southeast Iran. Thus, sheep and goats are important reservoirs in this area. Additionally, we performed a logistic regression to the identify risk factors for positivity and concluded that age was an important risk factor (P<0.001).
authors.affiliation: Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Kerman Branch, Kerman, Iran.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ezatkhah
authors.affiliation: Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Kerman Branch, Kerman, Iran; Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran. Electronic address: m.alimolaei@rvsri.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Mojtaba
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alimolaei
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran; Research Center of Tropical and Infectious Disease, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khalili
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Hygiene and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran; Research Center for Modeling in Health, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sharifi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D016997:Coxiella burnetii / Q000276:immunology*; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D006041:Goats; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011778:Q Fever / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial
keywords: Coxiella burnetii; ELISA; Q fever; Seroepidemiological; Southeast Iran