Coxiella burnetii infections among small ruminants in Ismailia Governorate

Abstract EN

In a survey of Q fever in small ruminants in Ismailia Governorate, a total of 182 animals (91 sheep and 91 goats) of different ages were selected from different farms and veterinary clinics in Ismailia Governorate during the period form December 2010 to December 2011.

Two blood samples (one without anticoagulant and the other with EDTA anticoagulant) were collected from each animal and subjected to serologic examination using ELISA (CHECKIT, IDEXX) and PCR assay.

The overall Coxiella burnetii seroprevalence rate was 14.3 % with occurrence rate of 12.1 % in sheep and 16.5 % in goats.

Infection was more common in female animals and especially in those aged 1-2 years old.

Seropositive cases were reported from 5 (62.5 %) out of 8 sheep farms and 6 (66.7 %) out of 9 goat farms examined, in comparison to 9.1 % and 21.4 % seropositivity among individual cases of sheep and goats, respectively, that had been collected from different veterinary clinics.

Regarding the distribution of the disease in different districts in Ismailia Governorate, the highest occurrence of C.

burnetii seroprevalence in sheep was observed in El Mahsama (37.5 %) followed by Abu Balah (33.3 %), Ein Ghosein (12.5 %) and Wadi El Eshra (9.1 %), while the lowest occurrence was observed in El Mananeif (5.6 %).

In goats, highest infection rates were in Wadi El Eshra (30.8 %), El Mahsama (14.3 %) followed by El Dabaeia (12.5%), while the lowest rate was in El Manaeif (7.7 %).

PCR performed on 26 seropositive whole blood samples failed to detect C.

burnetii genome in all of them.

The study clarified that Q fever is widely distributed among small ruminants in Ismailia Governorate and they may represent an important source for human infections.