Coxiella burnetii, the causative agent of Q fever in Saudi Arabia：molecular detection from camel and other domestic livestock

摘要

Objective:To detectCoxiella burnetii(C. burnetii)DNA in clinical specimens from camel, goats, cattle and sheep in theKingdom ofSaudiArabia.Methods:A total of367 clinical samples including blood, milk, faeces and urine were collected from different livestock and subjected to PCR amplification using primers which amplify transposon-like region and transposase gene. Results:Positive amplification from both regions was obtained from camel,goats and cattle but not from sheep.A percentage of10.8% samples yielded positivePCR amplification from both blood and milk, where15 of139 blood and16 of148 milk samples were positive.Faeces and urine showed higher percentages of positive samples reaching40.8% and23.8% respectively. Conclusions:The preferred route of shedding in camel appeared to be the faeces followed by urine, while that of goats appeared to be the faeces and that of the cattle appeared to be the milk.