Abstract
Query (Q) fever is an ubiquitous zoonosis caused by Coxiella burnetii, an obligate intracellular rickettsial organism that cause abortion and stillbirth in ruminants. The prevalence of C. burnetii in Iran is essentially unknown. Its traditional diagnosis is based on culture, serology and conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In this present study, for more sensitive and accurate detection and prevalence's determination of C. burnetii in aborted Ovine and Caprine fetuses, the nested and real-time PCR methods are recommended. 98 (12.53%) and 122 (16.39%) out of 782 and 744 Ovine and Caprine aborted fetuses, were positive for presence of C. burnetii by nested PCR, respectively. After real-time PCR, it was recognized that 121 (15.47%) and 152 (20.43%) samples were positive for C. burnetii in Ovine and Caprine aborted fetuses, respectively. Results indicated that the real-time PCR was 7 times more sensitive than the nested PCR. Statistical analysis showed significant differences about P < 0.01 between presence of C. burnetii in aborted Ovine and Caprine fetuses by both nested and real-time PCR assays and P < 0.05 between ability of nested and real-time PCR for detection of C. burnetii. The Ct values obtained from real-time PCR had significant differences of about P < 0.01 for presence of C. burnetii between aborted Ovine and Caprine fetuses. Our results indicated that Caprine is more sensitive than Ovine to C. burnetii's abortion. Khozestan and Gilan have the highest, and Khorasan and Sistan va balochestan provinces have the lowest prevalence of C. burnetii, respectively. To our knowledge, this study is the first prevalence report of direct identification of C. burnetii in aborted Ovine and Caprine fetuses by evaluation of nested and real-time PCR assays in Iran. This study showed that the nested PCR for detecting C. burnetii are technically time-consuming and labor-intensive. Key words: Prevalence study, Coxiella burnetii, small ruminant fetuses, various seasons, various partum.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
