期刊名称：Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine
印刷版ISSN：1232-1966
电子版ISSN：1898-2263
出版年度：2017
卷号：24
期号：4
页码：702-705
DOI：10.26444/aaem/80706
出版社：Institute of Agricultural Medicine in Lublin
摘要：Introduction. Coxiella burnetii is an obligatory intracellular bacterial pathogen causing the zoonotic disease Q fever. Themost common reservoirs of C. burnetii are wild mammals, birds and ticks. Pregnant domestic ruminants infected with thisbacterium are also a major source of human infection.Materials and method. The serological prevalence of C. burnetii in goats and sheep diagnosed with adverse pregnancyoutcomes was assessed by undertaking a survey on 800 dairy goats and 800 dairy ewes reared in four different regions ofGreece (Macedonia, Thrace, Thessaly, and Peloponnese). A stratified sampling was carried out, taking also as a criterion the ageof the animals. Serum antibodies were analyzed by a commercial ELISA according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.Results. Generally, there was a statistically significantly higher serological prevalence of C. burnetii (14.4%) in goats comparedto sheep (8%). Serological prevalence was higher in adults (15.5% in goats and 8.5% in sheep) compared to yearlings (7.4%in goats and 4.6% in sheep). The prevalence increased significantly with age only in goats. Finally, all animals reared inPeloponnese had a prevalence significantly higher (21% in goats and 18% in sheep) than animals reared in the other threeregions.Conclusion. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report that associates C. burnetii with reproductivedisturbances of domestic ruminants in Greece. However, considering the importance of coxiellosis for public health, furtherinvestigations are required on its epidemiology regarding abortion, premature delivery, stillbirth and weak offspring insmall ruminants, as well as in other domestic and wild animal species.
