Molecular identification of the agent of Q fever – Coxiella burnetii – in domestic animals in State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

• Published in: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Main Authors: Maria Angélica Monteiro de Mello Mares-Guia, Tatiana Rozental, Alexandro Guterres, Raphael Gomes, Daniele Nunes de Almeida, Namir Santos Moreira, Jairo Dias Barreira, Alexsandra Rodrigues Favacho, Andrea Lopes Santana, Elba Regina Sampaio de Lemos
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT) 2014
• Subjects: Q fever; Coxiella burnetii; Domestic animals; Molecular diagnosis; Brazil; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/0037-8682-0076-2013; https://doaj.org/article/145c7a03971847f1bc26394f87c7360c

Introduction Over the last recent years, the number of Q fever cases have has increased throughout the world. An epidemiological investigation was performed in the area in which the first molecular documentation of Q fever in Brazil was previously reported. Methods Indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and PCR of Coxiella burnetii targeting the htpAB gene were performed in samples from 14 dogs (blood); 1 cat (blood); 10 goats (blood, milk, vaginal swab and anal swab); 3 sheep (blood); and 2 horses (blood). Results Two dogs, two sheep and five goats were seroreactive. DNA was amplified from 6 milk and 2 blood samples from goats and from dogs, respectively. The sequence of the amplicons exhibited 99% sequence similarity with the homologous sequence of the htpAB gene of C. burnetii RSA 331 (GenBank - CP000890). Conclusions The results confirm C. burnetii infection in animals in Rio de Janeiro and reinforce the need for the surveillance of Q fever in Brazil.