scholarly journals Seroprevalence of Coxiella burnetii in cattle in the Belgrade epizootiological area

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-369
Author(s):  
Jadranka Zutic ◽  
Dragica Vojinovic ◽  
Slobodan Stanojevic ◽  
Branislav Kureljusic ◽  
Vesna Milicevic ◽  
...  

Q-fever is antropozoonosis which is caused by Coxiella burnetii, obligate intracellular pathogen. The most significant characteristics of this pathogen are resistance and stability in the environment, possibility of aerosol dissemination, and very low infective dose. C. burnetii can infect domestic and wild animals, rodents, birds and ticks. Q fever in animals is generally asymptomatic, although it can lead to reproductive disorders during pregnancy. The main route of infection in humans is inhalation of contaminated aerosol and dust. Serological studies have shown the presence of antibodies to C. burnetii in the serum samples of cattle in Belgrade epizootiological area. Seroprevalence of 18% was found in farm bred cattle, while it was only 1.5% in individual breeding. In farm bred cows that have suffered abortion prevalence was 49%, and only 1.9% in individual breeding. The overall results indicate that the circulation of this pathogen in cattle, in Belgrade epizootiological area, poses a health risk, not only to the cattle, but also to the humans, especially persons working with animals. Q fever control programs most often recommend serological research and vaccination of animals. Accordingly, it is necessary to define a strategy for the implementation of biosecurity measures and preventive measures against Q fever.

2007 ◽  
Vol 75 (11) ◽  
pp. 5282-5289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anja Lührmann ◽  
Craig R. Roy

ABSTRACT Coxiella burnetii is an obligate intracellular pathogen and the etiological agent of the human disease Q fever. C. burnetii infects mammalian cells and then remodels the membrane-bound compartment in which it resides into a unique lysosome-derived organelle that supports bacterial multiplication. To gain insight into the mechanisms by which C. burnetii is able to multiply intracellularly, we examined the ability of host cells to respond to signals that normally induce apoptosis. Our data show that mammalian cells infected with C. burnetii are resistant to apoptosis induced by staurosporine and UV light. C. burnetii infection prevented caspase 3/7 activation and limited fragmentation of the host cell nucleus in response to agonists that induce apoptosis. Inhibition of bacterial protein synthesis reduced the antiapoptotic effect that C. burnetii exerted on infected host cells. Inhibition of apoptosis in C. burnetii-infected cells did not correlate with the degradation of proapoptotic BH3-only proteins involved in activation of the intrinsic cell death pathway; however, cytochrome c release from mitochondria was diminished in cells infected with C. burnetii upon induction of apoptosis. These data indicate that C. burnetii can interfere with the intrinsic cell death pathway during infection by producing proteins that either directly or indirectly prevent release of cytochrome c from mitochondria. It is likely that inhibition of apoptosis by C. burnetii represents an important virulence property that allows this obligate intracellular pathogen to maintain host cell viability despite inducing stress that would normally activate the intrinsic death pathway.


Author(s):  
Ayse Kilic ◽  
Hakan Kalender

Q fever is a zoonotic disease that occurs worldwide and is caused by the obligate intracellular bacterium Coxiella burnetii. Infected animals are usually asymptomatic, but infection can cause abortion and stillbirth in ruminants. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate prevalance of Coxiella burnetii infection in aborted and nonaborted sheep serum samples in Eastern Anatolia region by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The determine of prevalance in sheep flocks from four provinces (Elazig, Malatya, Tunceli, Bitlis) and tested for anti-C.burnetii antibody detection, by means of Chekit Q fever Elisa kit. 350 serum samples obtained from flocks belonging aborted sheep showed that a total of 56 (16%) were detected seropositivity, whereas 171 serum samples obtained from nonaborted sheep flocks in 13 of the 171 (7.60%) for C.burnetii in seropositivity were observed. Coxiellosis should be considered an important cause of sheep with abortion history and nonaborted in Elazig and neighboring provinces.


Author(s):  
Qudrat Ullah ◽  
Hosny El-Adawy ◽  
Tariq Jamil ◽  
Huma Jamil ◽  
Zafar Iqbal Qureshi ◽  
...  

Coxiellosis is a zoonotic disease caused by the obligate intracellular bacterium Coxiella burnetii affecting the productive and reproductive capabilities of animals. This study was conducted to gain insight into the seroprevalence of coxiellosis in small ruminants in seven farms of the Punjab, Pakistan. Potential risk factors were assessed. In total, 1000 serum samples (500 from sheep and 500 from goats) and 163 ticks were collected from the ruminants. All these 163 ticks were merged into 55 pools (29 pools for ticks from sheep and 26 pools for ticks from goat). Serum samples were investigated using an indirect ELISA and PCR. Coxiella burnetii DNA was detected in 29 pooled seropositive samples and 11 pooled ticks by real-time qPCR. Serological analysis revealed a prevalence of 15.6% and 15.0% in sheep and goats, respectively. A significant association was found between seropositivity and different variables like district, lactational status, reproductive status, body condition and reproductive disorders. Univariate analysis showed that detection of C. burnetii DNA in tick pools was significantly associated with the presence of ticks on sheep and goats. However, a non-significant association was found for the prevalence of C. burnetii DNA in serum pools. Hence, C. burnetii infection is prevalent in small ruminants and ticks maintained at livestock farms in Punjab, Pakistan.


Author(s):  
A. Chakrabartty ◽  
N. Nahar ◽  
M. S. Rahman ◽  
A. K. M. A. Rahman ◽  
A. S. Sarker ◽  
...  

Background: Q-fever is an important zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Coxiella burnetii with wide host range of mammals, birds and arthropods worldwide. The prevalence of C. burnetii infection has been reported in domestic ruminants in Bangladesh with no attention on the ‘One Health’ approach for the epidemiological investigation associated with risk factors for prevention of the disease. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the sero-molecular prevalence of Coxiella burnetii infection and associated risk factors in domestic ruminants and humans based on ‘One Health’ approach in Bangladesh Materials and Methods: This study on C. burnetii infection was conducted in cattle, goats and humans of the four randomly selected districts (Kurigram, Sirajgonj, Pabna and Mymensingh) in Bangladesh during the period from 2018 to 2021. A total of 162 and 172 serum samples respectively from cattle and goats with the reproductive disorders, 159 serum samples from human patients with pyrexia of unknown origin lasting over a period of three weeks and who were in close contact with animal, 119 milk samples from cows with reproductive disorders and 6 aborted materials from goat were collected from these selected districts for the detection of C. burnetii antibody by ELISA and DNA by PCR assay. The research was performed with the collaboration of OIE reference laboratory for Q fever, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Germany. Results: The overall sero-prevalence of C. burnetii infection by ELISA was 3.01% in cattle, 7.6 % in goats and 0.63% in humans. The highest sero-positivity was recorded in cattle in Mymensingh (4.5%) in comparison to Pabna (2.8%), Kurigram (2.5%) and Sirajgonj (2.4%) districts. Risk factors associated with higher sero-positivity of C. burnetii infection was recorded in cattle with  5 years (4.4%) than 3 to 5 years (2.1%), indigenous (4.2%) than cross-bred (2.6%), history of retention of placenta (5.6%) than abortion (2.3%) and natural service (5.9%) than artificial insemination (2.3%). The sero-positivity of C. burnetii infection in goat showed highest in Kurigram (10.0%), followed by Sirajgonj (9.5%) and Mymensingh (9.3%) with no positive reactors in Pabna district. Risk factors associated with sero-positivity of C. burnetii infection in goats showed higher in > 2 years (14.1%) than up to 2 years (2.1%) age group and higher with the history of abortion (10.0%) than retention of placenta (4.2%). Risk factors associated with positivity of C. burnetii infection detected in milk samples of cows by ELISA showed an overall 21.85% positivity associated with history of reproductive disorders, with highest positivity in anestrus (33.3%), followed by retention of placenta (24.4%), abortion (21.7%) and lowest with repeat breeding (8.3%). In addition, higher positivity was recorded in cross-bred (24.2%) than in indigenous (12.5%) cattle. In case of humans, only one human patient (0.63%) had positive for IgG phase-II ELISA. C. burnetii DNA was detected in two sero-positive milk samples but all of the intermediate positive milk samples by ELISA were negative by PCR assay and even none of the aborted material of goat was positive in PCR and cell culture. Conclusions: This study recorded the prevalence and risk factors associated with the zoonotic C. burnetii infection in both the domestic ruminants and humans but still it is unrecognized and underestimated in both human and animal health and research in Bangladesh. The findings of this study support the further research on C. burnetii in both human and veterinary medicine under ‘One Health’ approach particularly targeting epidemiology on the agent, host and environment for the control and prevention of the disease in Bangladesh. Keywords: C. burnetii, Ruminants, Humans, ELISA, PCR, Sera, Milk, Prevalence, Risk factors, ‘One Health’ approach


2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide De Biase ◽  
Alessandro Costagliola ◽  
Fabio Del Piero ◽  
Rossella Di Palo ◽  
Domenico Coronati ◽  
...  

Coxiella burnetii is an obligate intracellular pathogen and the cause of Q fever in many animal species and humans. Several studies have reported the association between C. burnetii and abortion, premature delivery, stillbirth, and weak offspring. However, no solid evidence indicates that C. burnetii causes endometritis, subfertility, and retained fetal membranes. For this study, histopathological and PCR evaluation were performed on 40 uterine biopsies from dairy cattle with poor fertility. Uterine swabs were concurrently tested with microbiology assays. The endometrial biopsies of 30 cows did not have any significant lesions, and no pathogens were identified by aerobic bacterial culture and PCR. Ten cows were PCR-positive for C. burnetii and negative for other pathogens by aerobic bacterial culture and PCR. These 10 cases revealed a mild to severe chronic endometritis admixed with perivascular and periglandular fibrosis. Immunohistochemical evaluation of C. burnetii PCR-positive biopsies identified, for the first time, the presence of intralesional and intracytoplasmic C. burnetii in macrophages in the endometrium of cattle.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 333-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Swochhal Prakash Shrestha ◽  
Krishna Kaphle ◽  
Yuvraj Panth ◽  
Swoyam Prakash Shrestha

With upto 75% of all human disease being zoonotic in origin, proper study of the diseases is necessary to prevent any outbreak or human loss. More studies are required for developing countries like Nepal where there are no appropriate provisions for situations after breakouts. One such little known sporadic zoonosis is Q-fever. Q-fever (Coxiellosis) is caused by Gram-negative bacterium Coxiella burnetii that infect cattle and other ruminants with serious concerns for developing reproductive disorders and flu-like symptoms in human. There have been reports of undifferentiated febrile illness of Rickettsial cause in human and seroprevalence of Coxiella antibodies in goats of Chitwan and dairy cattle of Rupandehi for the first time. Low infectious dose and high resistivity to environment makes the disease more potent. Q-fever continues to be unexplored in Nepal despite its identification in neighboring countries like India. Thus, this paper after reviewing related articles from various journals, proceedings and magazines from online sources like Google Scholar, Mendeley, NCBI and PubMed is aimed to evaluate current status of disease, its epidemiology, zoonotic potential and preventive measures that can be adopted to minimize the threat of the disease as much as possible.


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