Animal Health and Infectious Diseases

Animal Health and Infectious Diseases

Prevalence of Coxiella burnetii in gaots of Lorestan province

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 1. Master's student of Bacteriology, Microbiology and food hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran
2 Masters Of Bacteriology, Microbiology and food hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran
3 DVM student in veterinary medicine, Department of Microbiology and Food Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Lorestan University, Iran
Abstract
The present study was performed to determine the prevalence of Coxiella burnetii in goat milk and serum samples collected from the Lorestan province. A total of 200 milk samples and 200 serum samples were randomly collected from goat herds belonging to four different geographical areas of Lorestan province. Milk and serum samples were collected during 1399 and, the age of the animals was recorded. DNA was extracted from all milk and serum samples. Then Nested-PCR was used to detect Coxiella burnetii based on the gene responsible for encoding a bacterial outer membrane protein (Com1) weighing 27 kDa. A 438 bp fragment of the Com1 gene was amplified. The results showed that out of 400 milk and serum samples, 34 samples (17%) were positive for Coxiella burnetii infection. Also, out of 200 milk samples, 26 samples (13%), and out of 200 serum samples, eight samples (4%) were infected with Coxiella burnetii. There was a significant difference (p <0.05) in the excretion of Coxiella burnetii through milk, based on season, geographical area, and age groups, but there was no significant difference between infected sera. Bacterial excretion in milk was very common in summer based on the season (21 samples (39.5%) and also the highest level of infection based on the geographical area in the east (14 samples (27.5%)) and based on age groups in the group. Age over 7 years (16 specimens (21%)) was observed. Conclusion Due to the importance of Coxiella burnetii, its rapid and accurate diagnosis is very important. Nested-PCR molecular technique can be very effective due to its high accuracy, sensitivity, and high speed in the detection process. Therefore, localization of molecular techniques, especially Nasted-PCR in the country is recommended to diagnose Q fever. Also, the goat milk and goat population in Lorestan province should be considered as an important factor in the epidemiology of Q fever and consequently general health.
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Supplementary File

  • Receive Date 05 April 2024
  • Revise Date 09 June 2024
  • Accept Date 20 June 2024
  • First Publish Date 29 August 2024
  • Publish Date 22 June 2025