Seroprevalence of Q fever in sheep and goat flocks with a history of abortion in Iran between 2011 and 2012

The purpose of this study was to estimate the seroprevalence of Coxiella burnetii infection in sheep and goat flocks with a history of abortion in different areas of Iran. One thousand and one hundred ovine and 180 caprine samples from 43 sheep and goat flocks in four counties located in the Northeast (Mashhad), Central (Isfahan), Western (Arak), and Southwest (Shiraz) Iran were collected randomly between March 2011 and April 2012. The CHEKIT Q fever ELISA kit was used to identify specific antibodies against C. burnetii in sheep and goats. The results showed that the overall seroprevalence of C. burnetii in sheep and goats was 19.5% and 27.2%, respectively. There was a significant difference in seropositivity between sheep and goats (P<0.05). Central Iran significantly had the highest prevalence among the studied areas, especially in goat coxiellosis (23.8% and 40.8% in sheep and goats, respectively). The lowest prevalence in sheep was 12.8% in Northeast Iran while in Western Iran C. burnetii antibodies were absent in goats. The higher prevalence of Q fever in Central Iran may be partly due to persistent favourable conditions to spread C. burnetii in this area including drought and dust storms that originated from neighbouring Iraq and Kuwait. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated the relatively high prevalence of Q fever in sheep and goat flocks with a history of abortion. Therefore, Q fever could be responsible for considerable numbers of ovine and caprine abortions in Iran.