Investigation of Brucella Species from Various Samples of Aborted Cattle in Kars Province (Turkey) by Cultural and Molecular Methods and Epidemiological Analysis of Cases

In this study, investigation of Brucella agents from various samples obtained from aborted cattle in Kars province by bacteriological and molecular methods and determination of epidemiological and clinical characteristics of cases were aimed. For this purpose 265 milk and 261 vaginal swab samples were obtained from 284 aborted cattle that were not vaccinated against brucellosis and 97 tissue samples of aborted foetuses were examined. As a result of bacteriological examination, Brucella spp. were isolated from total of 106 (17.01%) samples, in 41 (15.47%) out of 265 milk, 25 (9.57%) out of 261 vaginal swab and 40 (41.23%) out of 97 aborted foetus samples. Brucella spp. were isolated from both milk and vaginal swab samples of 8 (3.30%) cattle. Among 106 isolates, 105 (99.05%) and 1 (0.94%) were identified as Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensis, respectively. All of the isolates were detected as field strains. Among 105 B. abortus isolates, 92 (87.61%), 2 (1.90%), 2 (1.90%), 1 (0.95%) were typed as B. abortus biotype 3, B. abortus biotype 6, B. abortus biotype 9 and B. abortus biotype 1, respectively. One B. melitensis strain isolated from aborted foetus tissue was typed as B. melitensis biotype 3. Eight B. abortus strains couldn't be biotyped by classical methods and they were determined as atypical B. abortus. All of the isolates were confirmed as Brucella spp. with Brucella genus-spesific PCR and 105 isolates were identified as B. abortus and one isolate was identified as B. melitensis with Brucella species-specific PCR. In the study, some epidemiological factors that pose a risk for the disease were also investigated and it was found that these factors contributed to brucella positivity.