Serological survey of Chlamydia abortus in Greek dairy sheep flocks

PDF
Published: Oct 26, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/jhvms.28035
Keywords:
sheep Chlamydia abortus serology zoonoses enzootic abortion.
EJ Petridou
Laboratory of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3532-5724
E Kiossis
D Chochlakis
SQ Lafi
A Psaroulaki
LK Filippopoulos
M Baratelli
ND Giadinis
Abstract

Chlamydiosis due to Chlamydia abortus is one of the most common causes of abortion in small ruminant flocks worldwide. Although the causative agent is zoonotic, chlamydiosis is not a reportable disease. There is lack of recent data concerning sheep chlamydiosis in Greece.

In the current study, a serological investigation for Chlamydia abortus was conducted. Blood samples from 26 randomly selected sheep flocks not vaccinated against chlamydiosis were collected. From each flock, 15 to 20 blood samples were taken from adult female sheep. In total 464 blood samples were examined. One hundred and six samples were positive (22.8%), while 24 samples (5.24%) were doubtful.  Moreover, at farm level, in 18 out of the total number of 26 farms, at least one positive animal was detected (69.2%).

Chlamydiosis is considered a highly likely cause of sheep abortion in Greece. Therefore, vaccination of the sheep flocks is strongly recommended for the prevention and control of the disease. 

Article Details
  • Section
  • Research Articles
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

· Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

· Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

· Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (preferably in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.

Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Aitken I, Longbottom D (2007). Enzootic abortion. In: Diseases of Sheep, Aitken I (ed), UK.
Bommana S, Jelocnik M, Borel N, Marsh I, Carver S, Polkinghorne A (2019) The limitations of commercial serological assays for detection of chlamydial infections in Australian livestock. J Med Microbiol 68:627-632.
Esmaeli H, Bolourchi M, Mokhber-Dezfouli MR (2015) Seroprevalence of Chlamydia abortus infection in sheep and goats in Iran. Iran J Vet Med 9:73-77.
Garcia-Seco T, Pèrez-Sancho M, Salinas J, Navarro A, Diez-Guerrier A, Garcia N, Pozo P, Goyache J, Dominquez L, Alvarez J (2016) Effect of preventive Chlamydia abortus vaccination in offspring development in sheep challenged experimentally. Front Vet Sci 3: 67.
Giadinis ND (2015) Causes of abortion in small ruminants. Days of Veterinary Medicine, 3rd International Scientific Meeting, Ochrid, pp. 255-257.
Mamlouk A, Guesmi K, Ouertani I, Kalthoum S, Selmi R, Ben Aicha E, Bel Haj Mohammed B, Gharbi R, Lachtar M, Dhaouadi A, Seghaier C, Messadi L (2020) Seroprevalence and associated risk factors of Chlamydia abortus infection in ewes in Tunisia. Comp Immunol Microbiol Inf Dis 71:101500.
Malal ME, Karagül MS, Akar K (2020) Serological investigation of ovine chlamydiosis in small ruminants in western Turkey. Acta Vet Brno 89:255-261.
McCauley LME, Lancaster MJ, Butler KL, Ainsworth CGV (2010) Serological analysis of Chlamydophila abortus in Australian sheep and implications for the rejection of breeder sheep for export. Aust Vet J 88:32-38.
Mobini S, Heath AM, Pugh DG (2002) Theriogenology of sheep and goats. In: Sheep and Goat Medicine, (DG Pugh ed), WB Saunders co, USA, pp. 129-186.
Nietfeld JC (2001) Chlamydial infections in small ruminants. Vet Clin North Am-Food Anim Pract 17:301-314.
O, Neill LM, O’Driscoll A, Markey B (2018) Comparison of three commercial serological tests for the detection of Chlamydia abortus infection in ewes. Ir Vet J 71:13.
Qin S-Y, Yin M-Y, Cong W, Zhou D-H, Zhang X-X, Zhao Q, Zhu X-Q, Zhu J-Z, Qian A-D (2014) Seroprevalence and risk factors of Chlamydia abortus in Tibetan sheep in Gansu Province, northwest China. The Scient World J 2014:193464.
Radostits OM, Gay CC, Hinchcliff KW, Constable PD (2007) Veterinary Medicine, Saunders Elsevier, Spain.
Sargison N. (2008) Sheep Flock Health, Blackwell Publishing, UK.
SRUCVS (2019) Chlamydia abortus the most common finding in ovine abortions in early 2019. Vet Rec 185: 44-47.
Tsakos P, Siarkou V, Guscetti F, Chowdhury H, Papaioannou N, Vretou E, Papadopoulos O (2001a) Experimental infection of pregnant ewes with enteric and with abortion-source Chlamidophila abortus. Vet Microbiol 82: 285-291.
Tsakos P, Siarkou V, Kastanidou C, Papadopoulos O (2001b) Epidemiological survey in sheep and goats for Chlamydia and Brucella. J Hell Vet Med Soc 52:410-421 (English abstract).
Villagra-Blanco R, Dolz G, Montero-Caballero D, Romero-Zuňiga JJ (2015) Detection of antibodies against Chlamydophila abortus in Costa Rican sheep flocks. Open Vet J 5:122-126.
Most read articles by the same author(s)