Kalaitzakis Emmanouil, Fancello Tiziano, Simons Xavier, Chaligiannis Ilias, Tomaiuolo Sara, Andreopoulou Marianna, Petrone Debora, Papapostolou Aikaterini, Giadinis Nektarios D, Panousis Nikolaos, Mori Marcella
Clinic of Farm Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54627 Thessaloniki, Greece.
Sciensano, Veterinary Bacteriology, Scientific Directorate Infectious Diseases in Animals, 1180 Brussels, Belgium.
Pathogens. 2021 Mar 3;10(3):287. doi: 10.3390/pathogens10030287.
Ruminants are considered the commonest animal reservoir for human infection of , the Q fever causative agent. Considering the recently described importance of human Q fever in Greece, we aimed at providing the first comprehensive direct evidence of in dairy cows in Greece, including the genetic characterization of strains. The 462 examined dairy farms represented all geographical areas of Greece. One bulk tank milk sample was collected from every farm and tested for the presence of . Molecular genotyping of strains, performed directly on samples, revealed the existence of two separate clades characterized by single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotypes of type 1 and type 2. The two clades were clearly distinguished in multiple locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) by two discriminative loci: MS30 and MS28. Whereas MLVA profiles of SNP-type 2 clade were closely related to strains described in other European cattle populations, the MLVA profile observed within the SNP type 1 clade highlighted a peculiar genetic signature for Greece, related to genotypes found in sheep and goats in Europe. The shedding of bearing this genotype might have yet undefined human epidemiological consequences. Surveillance of the genetic distribution of from different sources is needed to fully understand the epidemiology of Q fever in Greece.
反刍动物被认为是人类感染Q热病原体的最常见动物宿主。鉴于近期希腊报道了人类Q热的重要性，我们旨在提供希腊奶牛中该病原体的首个全面直接证据，包括菌株的基因特征。所检测的462个奶牛场代表了希腊的所有地理区域。从每个农场采集一份散装罐牛奶样本并检测该病原体的存在。直接对样本进行的菌株分子基因分型揭示存在两个以1型和2型单核苷酸多态性（SNP）基因型为特征的独立进化枝。在多位点可变数目串联重复分析（MLVA）中，通过两个鉴别位点MS30和MS28可清晰区分这两个进化枝。虽然SNP 2型进化枝的MLVA图谱与其他欧洲牛群中描述的菌株密切相关，但在SNP 1型进化枝中观察到的MLVA图谱突出显示了希腊特有的基因特征，这与欧洲绵羊和山羊中发现的基因型有关。携带这种基因型的该病原体传播可能会产生尚未明确的人类流行病学后果。需要对来自不同来源的该病原体的基因分布进行监测，以全面了解希腊Q热的流行病学情况。
