Journal
COMPARATIVE IMMUNOLOGY MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Volume 80, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.cimid.2021.101727
Keywords
Abortion; Coxiella burnetii reservoir; Lamb mortality; Lamb survival; Maiden ewe; Q-fever; Reproduction; Sheep
Categories
Funding
- Meat and Livestock Australia [B.AHE.0318]
- Sheep Industry Business Innovation (Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australia)
- Murdoch University Veterinary Trust
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Infection rate of Coxiella burnetii is low in primiparous ewes and does not affect reproductive performance, while exposure in sheep across southern Australia is not widespread. Although ewes are not significant reservoirs, sporadic zoonotic transmission poses public health implications.
The role of infectious diseases including coxiellosis in causing poorer reproductive performance of primiparous ewes are not well studied. The aims of this study were to determine if natural exposure to Coxiella burnetii is widespread in breeding ewes and whether seropositivity is associated with poor reproductive performance of primiparous ewes. Seropositivity to Coxiella burnetii was 0.08% (CI95% 0.01, 0.36) in primiparous ewes and 0.36% (CI95% 0.07, 1.14) in mature ewes. Coxiella burnetii was not detected in aborted or stillborn lambs using qPCR. These findings suggest C. burnetii infection was unlikely to be an important contributor to abortion and perinatal mortalities observed for primiparous ewe flocks, and exposure to C. burnetii was not widespread in ewes on farms located over wide geographical region of southern Australia. Whilst ewes on these farms were not an important reservoir for C. burnetii, sporadic zoonotic transmission from sheep is reported and has public health implications.
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