Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan.
Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan.
Trop Anim Health Prod. 2021 Jan 4;53(1):68. doi: 10.1007/s11250-020-02496-z.
Coxiella burnetii, an intracellular zoonotic bacterium, causes query (Q) fever in ruminants. Its role has never been elucidated in small ruminants from Pakistan. The current study is designed to (a) determine the prevalence of coxiellosis in small ruminants, (b) evaluate the association of various potential risk factors and biomarkers in the occurrence of Coxiella burnetii, (c) and determine phylogeny and genetic variability of its various isolates identified during the study. For this purpose, 320 blood samples from sheep (n = 160) and goats (n = 160) were collected from 9 Union Councils of district Kasur, Punjab, and processed for DNA extraction. C. burnetii was confirmed by amplification of IS1111 transposase gene with an amplicon size of 294 bp. The results showed that the overall positive percentage of C. burnetii is 36.87% (sheep: 46.9% and goats: 30%). The phylogenetic tree was also constructed which described the possible origin of this pathogen from environment. Besides, after translation into amino acid, the resultant alignment showed several unique changes at position numbers 18 and 27 in the isolates from goats and at 27 and 66 from those of sheep. These mutations can have major impact on the infectious characteristics of this pathogen. Furthermore, different potential risk factors and clinical biomarkers like age, tick infestation, abortion, mastitis, and infertility were also studied and found that these are significantly (p < 0.05) associated with the occurrence of coxiellosis. It is concluded from the study that C. burnetii is endemic in small ruminants in Punjab, Pakistan. The outcomes of this study are alarming for scientific community as well as for policy makers because coxiellosis is an emerging threat to both humans and animals in this region due to its interspecies transmission ability.
贝氏考克斯体，一种细胞内的人畜共患病细菌，会导致反刍动物感染 Q 热。它在巴基斯坦的小型反刍动物中的作用尚未得到阐明。本研究旨在：（a）确定小型反刍动物中柯克斯体病的流行率；（b）评估各种潜在的危险因素和生物标志物与柯克斯体病发生的相关性；（c）确定在研究过程中鉴定的各种分离株的系统发育和遗传变异性。为此，从旁遮普省卡苏尔区的 9 个联合委员会采集了 320 份绵羊（n=160）和山羊（n=160）的血液样本，并进行 DNA 提取。通过扩增 IS1111 转座酶基因（扩增子大小为 294 bp）来确认 C. burnetii 的存在。结果表明，C. burnetii 的总阳性率为 36.87%（绵羊：46.9%，山羊：30%）。还构建了系统发育树，描述了该病原体可能来自环境的起源。此外，在翻译成氨基酸后，来自山羊的分离株在位置 18 和 27 以及来自绵羊的分离株在位置 27 和 66 处显示出几个独特的变化。这些突变可能对该病原体的感染特性产生重大影响。此外，还研究了不同的潜在危险因素和临床生物标志物，如年龄、蜱虫感染、流产、乳腺炎和不孕，发现这些因素与柯克斯体病的发生显著相关（p<0.05）。研究结论认为，C. burnetii 在巴基斯坦旁遮普省的小型反刍动物中流行。由于其种间传播能力，柯克斯体病对该地区的人类和动物都是一种新出现的威胁，因此本研究的结果对科学界和决策者来说都是令人震惊的。
