Elelu Nusirat, Chinedu Nwachukwu Raymond, Yakub-Obalowu Balkees A, Odetokun Ismail A, Al-Mustapha Ahmad I
Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria.
Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
BMC Vet Res. 2025 Jan 7;21(1):8. doi: 10.1186/s12917-024-04449-2.
Coxiella burnetii is the etiological agent of Q fever in humans, a zoonosis of increasingly important public health concern. The disease results in significant economic losses to livestock farmers and its presence in ready-to-eat dairy products poses a public health threat to consumers.
This study aimed to detect Coxiella burnetii in dairy products in Kwara State, Nigeria.
A cross-sectional study was performed to estimate the apparent and true prevalence of C. burnetii in dairy cattle in selected local government areas (LGAs) of Kwara State, Nigeria. A total of 51 traditional Fulani transhumance farms were sampled across three regions: 27 farms in Ifelodun LGA, 9 in Ilorin East LGA, and 15 in Moro LGA. Four pooled milk samples were collected aseptically from lactating cows on each farm, totaling 204 milk samples. We screened the pathogen using real-time PCR that targeted the IS1111 element in the 51 pooled raw milk samples from selected farms and 18 cheese samples from rural markets within the study area.
The overall apparent prevalence of C. burnetii in milk and cheese was 18.8%. Both dairy products showed similar prevalence with a relatively higher positivity rate in cheese (22.2%, n = 4/18) than in raw milk samples (17.6%, n = 9/51). There were significant differences in the burden of C. burnetii in milk between the three LGAs with higher prevalence in Moro LGA (p < 0.05).
The presence of C. burnetii in dairy products poses a direct risk of milk-borne zoonotic disease transmission to humans. Public education for the stakeholders in the dairy value chain should be intensified and the public should desist from consumption of unpasteurized milk. More molecular studies are needed to further study and characterize the C. burnetii genotypes in Nigeria.
伯氏考克斯体是人类Q热的病原体，这是一种对公共卫生日益重要的人畜共患病。该疾病给养牛户造成了重大经济损失，并且其存在于即食乳制品中对消费者构成了公共卫生威胁。
本研究旨在检测尼日利亚夸拉州乳制品中的伯氏考克斯体。
进行了一项横断面研究，以估计尼日利亚夸拉州选定地方政府区域（LGAs）奶牛中伯氏考克斯体的表观患病率和真实患病率。在三个地区共对51个传统富拉尼游牧农场进行了采样：伊费洛敦地方政府区域的27个农场、伊洛林东地方政府区域的9个农场和莫罗地方政府区域的15个农场。从每个农场的泌乳奶牛中无菌采集4份混合牛奶样本，共204份牛奶样本。我们使用实时PCR对来自选定农场的51份混合生牛奶样本和研究区域内农村市场的18份奶酪样本中靶向IS1111元件的病原体进行了筛查。
牛奶和奶酪中伯氏考克斯体的总体表观患病率为18.8%。两种乳制品的患病率相似，奶酪中的阳性率（22.2%，n = 4/18）相对高于生牛奶样本（17.6%，n = 9/51）。三个地方政府区域牛奶中伯氏考克斯体的负担存在显著差异，莫罗地方政府区域的患病率较高（p < 0.05）。
乳制品中存在伯氏考克斯体构成了牛奶传播人畜共患病给人类的直接风险。应加强对乳制品价值链中利益相关者的公众教育，公众应停止食用未巴氏杀菌的牛奶。需要更多的分子研究来进一步研究和鉴定尼日利亚伯氏考克斯体的基因型。
