Serological survey of Coxiella burnetii at the wildlife-livestock interface in the Eastern Pyrenees, Spain.
BACKGROUND
Coxiella burnetii is a zoonotic bacterium that infects a wide range of animal species and causes the disease Q fever. Both wild and domestic ruminants may be relevant in the epidemiology of C. burnetii infection. In order to investigate the significance of the ruminant host community in the alpine and subalpine ecosystems of the Eastern Pyrenees, Northeastern Spain, in the epidemiology of Q fever, a serological survey was performed on samples from 599 wild and 353 sympatric domestic ruminants.


RESULTS
Specific antibodies against C. burnetii were detected with a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Domestic sheep showed the highest prevalence (12.7 %, CI 95 % 8.6-16.9), followed by European mouflon (Ovis orientalis musimon) with a 6.8 % prevalence (CI 95 % 1.6-12.1), red deer (Cervus elaphus) with 2.4 % (CI 95 % 0-5.6), and cattle with a prevalence of 1.1 % (CI 95 % 0-3.2). No positive domestic goats, fallow deer (Dama dama), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and Southern chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica) were detected. Sheep flock prevalence was 75 % (nine of the 12 sheep flocks sampled were positive, within-flock prevalence ranging from 11.1 to 25.0 %), whereas cattle herd prevalence was 11.1 % (one out of the nine cattle herds sampled was positive, within-herd prevalence of 10.0 %.


CONCLUSIONS
Both domestic and wild ruminants from the alpine and subalpine ecosystems of the Eastern Pyrenees were exposed to C. burnetii. The higher seroprevalence in sheep and its relative abundance suggest that this species may have a major contribution to the ecology of C. burnetii. Conversely, wild ruminants do not seem to represent a relevant host community for C. burnetii maintenance in the Eastern Pyrenees.
Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain.|Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA) - Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
Xavier
X
Fernández-Aguilar
Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain.|Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA) - Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
Óscar
Ó
Cabezón
Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain.|Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA) - Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
Andreu
A
Colom-Cadena
Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain.
Santiago
S
Lavín
Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain. Jordi.Lopez.Olvera@uab.cat.
Jorge Ramón
JR
López-Olvera
D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D016997:Coxiella burnetii / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003670:Deer; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011778:Q Fever / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial
Coxiella burnetii; Livestock; Pyrenees; Q Fever; Spain; Wildlife