Background and Aim: Brucellosis is a common human-animal disease caused by Brucella bacteria. This study was performed to evaluate the serum prevalence of brucellosis in sheep and goats with a history of abortion in Piranshahr.
Materials and Methods: One of the essential methods for detection is polymerase chain reaction in which Multiplex-PCR method is the fastest way to achieve the desired results. Despite the PCR test simplicity, it can be performed on a large number of samples due to high sensitivity and specificity. This technique was used to simultaneously identify four species of the Brucella family, Brucella mellitensis, Brucella abortus, Brucella ovis and, Brucella suis in sheep and goat abortion specimens. 200 serum samples were collected from the Piranshahr region and were first examined for Brucella infection by the Rose Bengal test. Then, in the next step, DNA serum samples were extracted for final confirmation and, specific primers designed based on the 16s rRNA gene were used to detect Brucella. Specific primers of each species were used to identify Brucella species.
Results: According to Rose Bengal test, the results show that 86 samples (43%) of the serum samples (39% of sheep samples and 4% of goat samples) were positive for Brucella. The results of this study were positive for Brucella based on multiple PCR tests of 33 samples (16.5%). Prevalence of infection with different species of Brucella based on multiple PCR tests is as follows: 19 samples (22%) of Brucella abortus species, ten samples (11.6%) of B. mellitensis species, four samples (4.6%) of the samples were infected with B. ovis. The results also showed a significant relationship between abortion and the type of livestock (p <0.05). Abortion occurred more in sheep than in goats by Brucella bacteria.
Conclusion: Finally, none of the samples were infected with Brucella Swiss. As a results, Brucella abortus one biovar and B. melitensis one biovar are common among sheep and goats in Piranshahr region. Moreover, the use of multiplex polymerase chain reaction methods in diagnostic laboratories improves the quality level and increases the detection speed. Finally, the results showed that brucellosis is endemic in flocks of sheep and goats in Piranshahr region.