Footrot is an important infectious disease of small ruminants leading to severe economical losses. The aim of the present study was to determine isolation and identification rates of Dichelobacter nodosus and Fusobacterium necrophorum in the culture techniques and reveal the specificity and sensitivity of the culture technique based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method in sheep with footrot. Dry swabs and swabs with Amies medium from 83 sheep were subjected to PCR and culture analyses. In dry swabs, 4 samples were positive for F. necrophorum and all were negative for D. nodosus. Colonies in Eugon and Fusobacterium selective agars from swabs with Amies medium were evaluated. Polymerase chain reaction analysis was conducted on macroscopically and microscopically unidentified samples. The positivity rate was 55.4% for D. nodosus and 69.8% for F. necrophorum in cultures from Fusobacterium selective agars. The positivity rate for D. nodosus in Fusobacterium selective agars was higher than that in Eugon agar. Performing PCR and culture methods increased positivity as compared to performing them alone. In comparison with the PCR method, culturing in Fusobacterium selective agars had moderate sensitivity and low specificity for D. nodosus (71.7 and 28.7%) and F. necrophorum (61.3 and 80.0%), respectively. In conclusion, Fusobacterium selective agar (without antibiotics) for isolation and identification of D. nodosus is superior to Eugon agar. Fusobacterium necrophorum should also be considered as a provoking agent for footrot in small ruminants. The PCR method on culture increases elucidation of definitive aetiology.
The aim of our study was to determine the seroepidemiological profile of Q fever in small ruminants in Turkey and to examine its prevalence changes over the years. The study included 573 serum samples taken in 2013 and 472 samples taken in 2017 from animals in mixed herds of sheep and goats from 84 farms in Northeast Anatolia. Phase I and phase II IgG antibodies against Coxiella burnetii in serum samples were investigated by IDEXX ELISA (Q fever Ab Test IDEXX Laboratories, USA) indirect ELISA kits. Seroprevalence of Coxiella burnetii IgG in Artvin, Gümüşhane and Iğdır provinces was 5.6% in sheep, 1.8% in goats and 4.5% in total in 2013. In contrast, it was 24.4% in sheep, 1.1% in goats and 20.1% in total in 2017. According to the total seroprevalence rates calculated by including both sheep and goat population, it was seen that the province with the highest seroprevalence change in these animals was Iğdır with a 7.3-fold increase. Herd-level seroprevalence was 29.4% in 2013 and 57.6% in 2017. According to these results, the C. burnetii IgG seroprevalence nearly doubled after four years. This increase has been evaluated as a major risk for animal and human health as well as for the livestock economy in Northeastern Anatolia, where animal husbandry is intense.
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