Prevalence of Q fever in domestic animals with reproductive disorders
Vilas M. Vaidyaa b✉, S.V.S. Malikb c, K. N. Bhilegaonkarb c, Ram Swaroop Rathoreb c, Simranpreet Kaurb c, S. B. Barbuddhed
- aDivision of Veterinary Public Health, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar 243122, India. drvilasmvaidya@rediffmail.com
- bDivision of Veterinary Public Health Indian Veterinary Research Institute Izatnagar — 243122 India
- cDivision of Veterinary Public Health, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar 243122, India
- dICAR Research Complex for Goa, Ela, Old Goa 403402, India
- ✉Corresponding author
Papers open inside SciRah from the original publisher or repository; SciRah never hosts them.
Abstract
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.