Title: The first serosurvey of equine coxiellosis in Iran
Abstract:Abstract Background: Q fever is a hyper endemic zoonosis in middle east countries. In Iran, serologic studies have been done in cattle, sheep, goat, camel and human. There is any report of Q fever in ...Abstract Background: Q fever is a hyper endemic zoonosis in middle east countries. In Iran, serologic studies have been done in cattle, sheep, goat, camel and human. There is any report of Q fever in horse populations and this study is the first serosurvey in this area. Results: A total of 177 serum samples from North and South of Iran were randomly collected and were analyzed for Q fever by a commercial ELISA kit. Anti C.burnetii antibodies were detected in 5.64% of sera samples. Results of this study indicated that there was no significant difference in seroprevalence in different sexes, ages and breed groups. Conclusions: This is the first report of Q fever in horses of Iran and our study shows that the impact of Q fever disease on horses' health status in the studied area appears to be important. However, Additional studies are needed to assess whether the horse can be used as a relevant transmission risk indicator for Q fever in this area. Keywords: Coxiella burnetii, Horse, Iran, Q fever, Serology.Read More