Prevalence of Coxiella burnetii infection and risk factors in aborted sheep and goats in Kerman province, southeast of Iran

Coxiellosis, also known as Q fever, is a zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetti and has become a significant cause of small ruminant abortion globally. Q fever is endemic in Iran, but there is a dearth of epidemiological data regarding the true prevalence of C. burnetii in some areas of Iran. Small ruminants, mainly goats and sheep, are considered the primary reservoir for human infection, posing a considerable threat to human health. Theses reservoirs can shed the bacterium into vaginal mucus.The objective of this study is to examine the prevalence of coxiellosis through the detection of the IS۱۱۱۱ gene of C. burnetii using Real-time PCR and also to identify the related risk factors (such as the location of livestock, age, species, and parity) associated with the disease in the vaginal discharge of small ruminants residing in Kerman province, located in the southeast of Iran. During the winter of ۲۰۱۹ and autumn of ۲۰۲۰, a total of ۱۳۴ vaginal samples from aborted small ruminants (۷۰ samples from sheep and ۶۴ from goats) were gathered from ۳۲ herds located in different areas of Kerman province. The results showed that ۲۶ samples, comprising ۱۴ from goats (۲۱.۸۸ %) and ۱۲ from sheep (۱۷.۱۴ %), were positive for coxiellosis. According to the findings of our study, the detection of C. burnetii showed that coxiellosis is circulating in the studied area. Additionally, our analysis revealed no statistically significant association between the prevalence of Q fever and small ruminants'' location, number of parturition,  and age that were examined as potential risk factors.

کلیدواژه ها:

Q fever ، Coxiellosis ، Real-Time PCR ، small ruminants ، Prevalence ، Kerman province