School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Murdoch University, South Street, Murdoch 6150, Western Australia, Australia.
Vet Microbiol. 2010 Jul 14;143(2-4):337-45. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2009.12.002. Epub 2009 Dec 11.
The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Coxiella burnetii in two domestic ruminant species (cattle and sheep) and the western grey kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus) in Western Australia (WA). The IDEXX CHEKiT Q Fever ELISA and CFT were used to test sera from 50 sheep and 329 head of cattle for anti-C. burnetii antibodies and 343 kangaroo sera were tested using an indirect ELISA developed specifically for this study. Faecal or urine samples collected from the same animals were tested with two PCR assays to identify active shedding of C. burnetii in excreta. Only two of the 379 ruminant sera had detectable levels of anti-C. burnetii antibodies according to the ELISA while the CFT did not detect any positive samples. In contrast 115 of the 343 western grey kangaroo serum samples were positive when tested with the antibody-ELISA. The first qPCR assay, targeting the IS1111a element, identified 41 of 379 ruminant and 42 of 343 kangaroo DNA samples as positive for C. burnetii DNA. The second qPCR, targeting the JB153-3 gene, identified nine C. burnetii DNA-positive ruminant samples and six positive kangaroo samples. Sequence comparisons showed high degrees of identity with C. burnetii. Isolation of C. burnetii from faeces was also attempted but was not successful. From the results presented here it appears that domestic ruminants may not be the most significant reservoir of C. burnetii in WA and that kangaroos may pose a significant threat for zoonotic transfer of this pathogen.
本研究旨在调查西澳大利亚州（WA）两种家养反刍动物（牛和羊）和西部灰袋鼠（Macropus fuliginosus）中贝氏柯克斯体（Coxiella burnetii）的流行情况。本研究使用 IDEXX CHEKiT Q 热 ELISA 和 CFT 检测了 50 只绵羊和 329 头牛的血清中的抗 C. burnetii 抗体，并用专门为此研究开发的间接 ELISA 检测了 343 只袋鼠血清。从同一动物采集的粪便或尿液样本用两种 PCR 检测方法进行了检测，以确定排泄物中 C. burnetii 的活性排出。根据 ELISA 检测，只有 379 份反刍动物血清中的两份具有可检测水平的抗 C. burnetii 抗体，而 CFT 未检测到任何阳性样本。相比之下，用抗体 ELISA 检测时，115 份 343 份西部灰袋鼠血清样本呈阳性。针对 IS1111a 元件的第一 qPCR 检测鉴定出 379 份反刍动物和 343 份袋鼠 DNA 样本中有 41 份和 42 份为 C. burnetii DNA 阳性。针对 JB153-3 基因的第二 qPCR 检测鉴定出 9 份 C. burnetii DNA 阳性反刍动物样本和 6 份阳性袋鼠样本。序列比较显示与 C. burnetii 具有高度的同一性。从粪便中分离 C. burnetii 的尝试也没有成功。从这里呈现的结果来看，在 WA，家养反刍动物可能不是 C. burnetii 的最重要宿主，而袋鼠可能对这种病原体的人畜共患病传播构成重大威胁。
