Abortion is considered an important disease problem of small ruminants in Borana pastoral area. A cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the prevalence and risk factors of chlamydiosis, coxiellosis (Q-fever) and brucellosis in small ruminants in selected districts of Borana zone. A total of 506 sheep and goats were tested using serological tests. Fifty (9.88%; 95% CI: 7.42, 12.82), 144 (28.46%; 95% CI: 24.56, 32.61) and none (0.00%; 95% CI: 0.00, 0.59) of them were positive for chlamydiosis, coxiellosis and brucellosis, respectively. History of abortion was recorded in 136 (32.00%; CI: 27.59, 36.67) of sheep and goats in the study area. The logistic regression analysis, however, showed that statistically significant difference ccurred among districts and between the species of small ruminants. The prevalence odd of antibodies against C. abortus was significantly lower in Miyo, Dire and Teltelle districts compared to Dillo. The odd of infection with this bacterium was lower in sheep than goats. Similarly the odd of infection with C. burnettii was significantly higher in Dillo district than the rest of the districts studied, higher in goats than sheep and higher in adult animals than young ones. High prevalence of abortion is observed in sheep and goats in the study area. High seropositivity of C. burnetii and C. abortus in both sheep and goats tested implies risks of human infection by both diseases. Thus, attention needs to be paid to further study of both diseases in animals and humans in the area.

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Seroprevalence and associated risk factors for chlamydiosis, coxiellosis and brucellosis in sheep and goats in Borana pastoral area, southern Ethiopia.

Parasites that infect multiple species cause major health burdens globally, but for many, the full suite of susceptible hosts is unknown. Proactive disease surveillance involves gathering host-parasite association data, predicting missing links, and targeting efforts towards the most likely undocumented interactions. Using the largest global network of mammal host-parasite interactions amalgamated to date (>29,000 interactions), we predict undocumented links and conduct targeted literature searches. We find evidence for many of the top "missing" links, including parasites of humans, domesticated animals, and endangered wildlife, and identify regions such as tropical and central America as likely hotspots of undocumented associations. This approach of iterated prediction and targeted surveillance can efficiently guide the collection of host-parasite interaction data critical for developing broad-scale theories in disease ecology and evolution, help to identify previously undocumented hosts, and inform predictions of future host-parasite interactions.

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Predicting missing links in global host-parasite networks

Despite previous detection of Chlamydia pecorum in sporadic ovine abortions, published descriptions of naturally occurring infections with fetoplacental lesions are lacking. This report provides the first descriptions of severe necrosuppurative chorionitis with vasculitis, and fetal pyelonephritis and enteritis in late-term abortions of maiden ewes. Chlamydial infection was detected using a Chlamydia genus-specific qPCR (quantitative polymerase chain reaction) on tissue extracts from 3 fetuses. C. pecorum was identified using a targeted qPCR assay, which also determined infectious load within fetal tissues. The presence of viable C. pecorum in fetal samples was confirmed by cell culture. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) data indicated that the C. pecorum strains from each fetus were identical and of sequence type (ST) 23. Chlamydia sp. immunohistochemistry showed strong positive immunolabeling of fetoplacental lesions. Other infectious abortigenic agents were excluded with specific testing. This report confirms C. pecorum as a likely cause of ovine abortion and provides the first descriptions of associated fetoplacental lesions in naturally infected sheep.

Chlamydia pecorum-Associated Sporadic Ovine Abortion.

Prevalence of chlamydophila abortion amongst local small ruminants in ninavah province ?iraq.

Seroprevalence of brucellosis and chlamydiosis in sheep and goats with history of abortion in Iran

Background and Objectives: Enzootic abortion of ewes (EAE) is caused by infection of sheep and goats by Chlamydia abortus bacterium. Chlamydial abortion in bovine could occur by Chlamydia abortus, Chlamydia psittaci and Chlamydia pecorum. C. psittaci is the causative agent of psittacosis or ornithosis disease in humans and birds. It also causes acute pneumonia in cattle and sheep. The present study aimed at surveying the role of chlamydial agents in ruminants abortion. Materials and Methods: A total of 117 aborted material samples (Cotyledon, liver, spleen, and abomasal contents of fetus) from 9 cattle and 100 sheep in Shahr-e-Kord and 8 sheep from Bagh-e-Malek were collected from different herds with abortion history during the lambing periods from 2014 to 2016. After DNA extraction, the samples were tested by species-specific PCR to detect C. abortus, C. pecorum and C. psittaci. Results: Out of 117 clinical sample (108 sheep and 9 cattle), chlamydial infection was detected in 66 (56.41%) samples by Chlamydiales order-specific primers. A total of 24 (36.36%) and 24 (36.36%) samples indicated positive forms of C. abortus and C. psittasi infections, respectively. Only 1 (1.5%) C. pecorum was identified from cattle using nested PCR during this study. Among 66 Chlamydiales - positive samples, 20 (30.30%) samples with coinfection of C. abortus and C. psittaci were detected, however, infection of 3 species was not detected in the samples. Conclusion: Because of the high percentage of chlamydial infection in these regions and probability of coinfection, conducting epidemiological studies on the role of different animals is highly recommended.

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Sara Barati

Papers

The role of zoonotic chlamydial agents in ruminants abortion.