Investigation of Coxiella burnetii by Real-Time PCR in Ruminant Abortus Cases

Q fever is one of the important zoonotic infections which is seen in many parts of the world. Because the isolation of the agent is difficult and time consuming as well as the isolation and identification of the agent requires to be done under biosafety level-3 (BSL-3) conditions, the diagnosis of the disease is largely based on molecular and serological techniques. The aim of this study was to detect Coxiella burnetii accurately and quickly for routine diagnosis of the disease from the clinical samples by using real time PCR and to detect the presence of the C. burnetii in ？anl？urfa District. A total of 202 abortus materials kept at -80°C and previously brought to Harran University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Department of Microbiology for diagnosis and 25 aborted materials brought to our lab during this study period were tested by Real-Time PCR. For Real-Time PCR analysis, a commercial C. burnetii Real-Time PCR kit was used including positive controls. Besides, a classical PCR was performed by using a pair of primers which amplifies a 74-bp fragment of the com 1 gene of C. burnetii, which is highly conserved region in the genom of agent and amplicons were visualized in the 4% agarose gel. Four out of 227 test samples (1.8%) samples were found positive by both Real-Time and classical PCR test. In the end of the study, it was concluded that this important zoonotic agent could be determined fast and reliable and contribute to take necessary preventive measures on time