Prevalence of Chlamydia abortus Infection in Aborted Sheep and Goats in Kerman Province, Southeast of Iran

In recent years, C. abortus, the etiological agent of ovine enzootic abortion, has been associated with many cases of lamb loss in sheep and goat farms in Iran. However, there is a lack of epidemiological data regarding Chlamydia-related abortion in this region. Accordingly, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of C. abortus and the associated risk factors in the small ruminants of Kerman Province, southeast Iran. For this purpose, we collected ۱۳۴ vaginal swab samples from ۷۰ sheep and ۶۴ goats that had experienced abortion. Following DNA extraction from samples, we amplified the POMP۹۰-۳ gene of C. abortus using PCR to confirm C. abortus presence, and then one positive sample was selected for sequencing. The results indicated an overall C. abortus prevalence rate of ۲۱.۶%, with ۲۰.۳% prevalence in goats and ۲۲.۸% in sheep. We observed a higher incidence rate in animals with a higher number of parturition; however, no significant corelation was observed between the prevalence rate of C. abortus and species.  In addition, sampling location was considered a risk factor associated with C. abortus infection. This study highlighted C. abortus as a threat to small ruminants' reproduction in Kerman Province, which deserves constant monitoring and multi-faceted preventive strategies.

Keywords:

Chlamydia abortus , Kerman province , Ovine Enzootic Abortion , PCR