Hwang, S.; Cho, H.-C.; Shin, S.-U.; Kim, H.-Y.; Park, Y.-J.; Jang, D.-H.; Kim, E.-M.; Kim, J.W.; Park, J.; Choi, K.-S. Seroprevalence and Molecular Characterization of Coxiella burnetii in Cattle in the Republic of Korea. Pathogens2020, 9, 890.
Hwang, S.; Cho, H.-C.; Shin, S.-U.; Kim, H.-Y.; Park, Y.-J.; Jang, D.-H.; Kim, E.-M.; Kim, J.W.; Park, J.; Choi, K.-S. Seroprevalence and Molecular Characterization of Coxiella burnetii in Cattle in the Republic of Korea. Pathogens 2020, 9, 890.
Hwang, S.; Cho, H.-C.; Shin, S.-U.; Kim, H.-Y.; Park, Y.-J.; Jang, D.-H.; Kim, E.-M.; Kim, J.W.; Park, J.; Choi, K.-S. Seroprevalence and Molecular Characterization of Coxiella burnetii in Cattle in the Republic of Korea. Pathogens2020, 9, 890.
Hwang, S.; Cho, H.-C.; Shin, S.-U.; Kim, H.-Y.; Park, Y.-J.; Jang, D.-H.; Kim, E.-M.; Kim, J.W.; Park, J.; Choi, K.-S. Seroprevalence and Molecular Characterization of Coxiella burnetii in Cattle in the Republic of Korea. Pathogens 2020, 9, 890.
Abstract
This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of Coxiella burnetii infection according to cattle breeds and growth types. A total of 491 cattle [cattle breed: 216 dairy cattle and 275 beef cattle; according to growth type: indoor housing (n = 294) and grazing (n = 197)] were tested for the presence of C. burnetii DNA and antibodies against C. burnetii using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Overall, 10.8% and 8.8% of the cattle were positive by PCR and for C. burnetii antibodies, respectively. The prevalence of C. burnetii was significantly higher in beef cattle than in dairy cattle using PCR (13.6% vs 7.4%; P = 0.032) and ELISA (14.6% vs 1.4%; P = 0.000), respectively. The overall infection rate of C. burnetii was significantly high in grazing cattle (PCR: 24.9%, ELSIA: 21.3%; P = 0.000) compared with housing cattle (PCR: 1.4%, ELISA: 0.3%). The results indicate that beef cattle have a significantly higher risk of contracting C. burnetii infection compared with dairy cattle (21.5% vs. 7.9%, χ2 = 5.82, P = 0.000, odds ratio = 3.197, 95% CI: 1.80-5.67). In addition, the infection of C. burnetii was significantly associated with grazing (P = 0.000). Moreover, a risk of contracting C. burnetii infection in grazing cattle was increased by 32.57-fold (95% CI: 12.84-82.60, P = 0.000) compared with indoor housed cattle. The phylogenetic analysis based on the IS111 gene revealed that our isolates were grouped together with humans, ticks, goats, and cattle isolates found in several countries. C. burnetii isolates circulating in the Republic of Korea exhibit genetic variations. Consequently, our results suggest that cattle are potential reservoirs for C. burnetii infection and most importantly, grazing acts as a high risk factor for the occurrence and transmission of this infection.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
