Survey on contamination rate of raw milk samples of ruminants in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province to Coxiella burnetii, using nested polymerase chain reaction method

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Asghar karimian 1
Masoud Ghorbanpoor 2
Zahra Hemati 2
Leili Shokoohizadeh 3
1 Ph.D. Student of Bacteriology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord- Iran
2 Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord- Iran
3 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan- Iran.
10.22034/IJVCS.2025.14898.1103
Abstract
Coxiella burnetii is a Gram-negative, obligate intracellular bacterium and the causative agent of the zoonotic disease Q fever. Cattle, sheep, and goats are the primary sources of human infection, excreting the pathogen through milk. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of C. burnetii contamination in raw milk samples collected from cattle, sheep, and goat herds in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran. Between October 2022 and January 2024, a total of 250 individual milk samples were seasonally collected from 50 dairy herds (cattle, sheep, and goats) across various regions of the province. The samples were analyzed for C. burnetii contamination using nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the transposon gene IS1111. Totally, 9 out of 250 raw milk samples (3.6%) were positive, including 7 out of 100 cattle milk samples (7%) and 2 out of 75 goat milk samples (2.66%). All 75 sheep milk samples were found to be negative. A significant association was observed between the level of C. burnetii contamination in the raw milk samples studied and the type of livestock (P = 0.042). However, no significant differences were found concerning the season, region, history of mastitis, or dairy farm density. The findings of this study indicated that raw cow and goat milk could serve as potential sources of C. burnetii infection in the investigated area.

Keywords

Subjects

Iranian Journal of Veterinary Clinical Sciences
Volume 18, Issue 2 - Serial Number 31
Fall & winter 2024/2025
January 2025
Pages 119-128