Diagnosis of chlamydia abortus by real time PCR in ruminant abortions in the marmara region and genotyping with multilocus VNTR analysis

Chlamydia abortus is a Gram negative, obligate intracellular, zoonotic bacteria that causes disease in many animal species and humans. Enzootic abortion caused by C. abortus in ruminants is common almost all over the world. There is no extensive studies to show the place of C. abortus in abortive agents and no published data about the genotypes of the agent in our country. The aim of this study is to diagnose C. abortus in ruminant abortions in the Marmara Region and to determine the genotypes of the agent and obtain the first national epidemiological data in this sense. For this purpose, a total of 730 abortion materials (fetal tissues, fetal stomach contents, placentas, cotyledons, vaginal swabs) of 267 cattle, 380 sheep, 70 goats, 13 buffaloes were examined for C. abortus. In this study, DNA of the agent was investigated from abort materials by species specific Real Time Polimerase Chain Reaction (PCR) with low detection limit. DNAs of positive results were genotyped by Multilocus Variable Number Tandem Repeat (VNTR) Analysis (MLVA) method. From 730 materials, 87 (11.9%) were found positive for C. abortus. Positivity rates were 21.4% in goats, 16.6% in sheep, 7.7% in buffaloes and 3% in cattle. As a result of genotyping, the dominant genotype was found as MLVA genotype 2 (93.1%), and a total of 4 different genotypes with genotypes 3, 4, and 5 were involved in infections. With this study, genotyping of C. abortus and detection of the agent in a buffalo was done for the first time in our country. It was also determined that C. abortus was responsible for a significant part of small ruminant abortions in the Marmara Region. As the agent is zoonotic and widespread, it was concluded that the necessity of preparing a national strategy plan and similar studies in other regions of our country will contribute to the determination of the prevalence and genotypes on a national scale.