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Detection of Coxiella burnetii in placenta and abortion samples from British ruminants using real‐time PCR
Author(s) -
Jones R. M.,
Twomey D. F.,
Han S.,
Errington J.,
Pritchard G. C.,
Sawyer J.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
veterinary record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.261
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 2042-7670
pISSN - 0042-4900
DOI - 10.1136/vr.c4040
Subject(s) - coxiella burnetii , biology , aborted fetus , q fever , abortion , veterinary medicine , real time polymerase chain reaction , placenta , virology , polymerase chain reaction , herd , andrology , fetus , microbiology and biotechnology , pregnancy , medicine , zoology , gene , genetics
A real‐time PCR was developed to detect Coxiella burnetii (the cause of Q fever) in ruminant placentas and aborted fetuses. Primer and probe sets previously developed for human tissue studies were used to target the insertion sequence IS 1111 gene for C burnetii . The assay was highly sensitive, with a limit of detection of 10 copies of template, theoretically equating to a single bacterium, and did not cross‐react with a panel of other bacteria. To determine sensitivity on field samples submitted for the diagnosis of abortion, results using the IS 1111 PCR assay were compared with a com 1 PCR assay. When applied to ruminant abortion material, including placental cotyledons and fetal samples, the IS 1111 and com 1 assays yielded positive results in 23 (25 per cent) of 93 and 19 (20 per cent) of 93 samples, respectively. One infected goat herd was monitored for 31 months: 57 (92 per cent) of 62 placental cotyledon samples from aborting and non‐aborting goats, and 10 (30 per cent) of 33 fetal samples were positive by the IS 1111 PCR assay.