Prevalence of Coxiella burnetii antibodies in dairy cattle associated with abortions and reproductive disorders.

Abstract

In this study, the investigation on the prevalence of Coxiella burnetii antibodies in cattle dairy farms (n = 44) associated with a history of abortions /and reproductive disorders located in various geographical areas in different states of India was carried out. A total of 323 serum samples (n = 323) collected from apparently healthy cattle associated with a history of abortions, infertility, repeat breeding, anoestrus, endometritis, etc., were screened for anti-C. burnetii antibodies by employing PrioCHECK™ Ruminant Q Fever AB Plate ELISA Kit. The overall seropositivity of 44.0% (142/323, 95% confident interval: 39–49%) was observed in cattle with the presence of antibodies associated with abortions and other reproductive disorders (χ2 = 18.75, p < 0.01). Further, the seropositivity of the dairy farms [84.1% (37/44)] implies at least one or two animals in each farm was found to be positive for C. burnetii antibodies. Moreover, on screening of the serum samples from seronegative and seropositive dairy farms, by Trans PCR, 84 out of 107 samples were found positive for C. burnetii genomic DNA, which indicated the ongoing active infection in all the studied farms. This study revealed that C. burnetii infection was prevalent in dairy cattle associated with abortions, infertility, and other reproductive problems and it implies the cattle have a role as a reservoir and may act as a potential zoonotic source to farm associated risk-groups personnel namely farmers, animal handlers, veterinarians, etc., that necessitates the adoption of appropriate mitigating strategies to reduce the incidence of Q fever in cattle dairy farms.