Coxiellosis in domestic livestock of Puducherry and Tamil Nadu: Detection of Coxiella burnetii DNA by polymerase chain reaction in slaughtered ruminants

Abstract

Background and Aim::In the course of our Indian Council of Medical Research project on coxiellosis in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu, 5.64% goat, 1.85% sheep, 1.06% buffaloes, and 0.97% cattle were positive for Coxiella burnetii antibodies by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay kit (IDEXX, Liebefeld, Switzerland). In this preliminary study, we have proceeded to look for C. burnetii DNA in those antibody positive specimens employing an imported commercial C. burnetii polymerase chain reaction (PCR) kit.Materials and Methods::Blood samples were collected during slaughtering. All 15 blood samples of antibody positive ruminants and three antibody negative samples were subjected to conventional Trans-PCR assay with a commercial PCR kit (Genekam Biotechnology AG, Duisburg, Germany). An in-house Trans-PCR was included in the study for comparison.Results::A total of 15 antibody positive and three antibody-negative serum samples belonging to 11 goat, 4 sheep, 1 cattle, and 2 buffaloes were tested in duplicate for the presence of C. burnetii DNA by the commercial agar gel PCR kit and an in-house Trans-PCR. Only one buffalo serum sample was positive for C. burnetii with a band at 243 bp in in-house Trans-PCR.Discussion::Seropositivity for C. burnetii need not necessarily translate into infectivity status of the animal. Conversely, seronegative ruminants can shed C. burnetii. Rapid disintegration of C. burnetii DNA during the storage period is an important impediment in QF-PCR research. This is the first time the performance of this commercial PCR kit is being validated in India.Conclusion::Commercial PCR kit, Genekam did not identify any positive sample, probably because it targeted a larger amplicon of 687 bp.

Seroprevalence Rate of Coxiella Burnetii in Cows’ Serum in Assiut Governorate, Egypt

“…In cows, higher C. burnetii seroprevalence rates were previously reported as 31% in the Adamawa region of Cameroon (Scolamacchia et al, 2010), 32% in southeastern Ethiopia (Gumi et al, 2013), 20.5% (95 of 463) in Guina (Troupin et al, 2022), 34% in 4 upper Egypt governorates (Gerges et al, 2018) and 36% in Beni Suief followed by 34% in Giza and 32% in Fayoum (Salem et al, 2020). However, lower C. burnetii seroprevalence rates in cows were detected in Kenya11% (Wardrop et al, 2016), India 1% (Pradeep et al, 2017), Laikipia 4% (DePuy et al, 2014, and Somali region, Ethiopia 9.6% (Ibrahim et al, 2021).…”

Risk factors for Brucella spp. and Coxiella burnetii infection among small ruminants in Eastern India

“…Small ruminants have been identified as one of its primary reservoirs [18,21,22]. Despite its ubiquitous nature globally [21], human cases are underdiagnosed and underreported in India [23], and little is understood of its prevalence in Indian livestock [24].…”

Application of immunofluorescence assay and nested polymerase chain reaction for query fever diagnosis in animal handlers of Puducherry, South India, and phylogenetic analysis based on IS1111 repetitive gene element

“…Only a few reports of C. burnetii isolation from aborted tissues and blood samples of livestock have been published in Indian literature [12][13][14][15]. Since isolation in culture is confined only to reference laboratories due to biosafety concerns, serology/polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is considered to be the preferred test [2].…”

“…Several studies from India have employed serological tests for the detection of C. burnetii antibodies in blood samples of domestic animals as well as humans [3,14,[16][17][18][19]. In India, few researchers performed PCR for confirming this zoonosis [3,12,15,17] and the phylogenetic tree was analyzed on the basis of IS1111 gene target [13]. To the best of our knowledge, QF in this occupational category has not been reported in South India so far.…”