Serological Evidence of Coxiella burnetii Infection in Cattle and Goats in Bangladesh

• DOI: 10.1007/s10393-015-1011-x
• Publication Date: 2015-02-03T22:04:12Z
• Authors: Najmul Haider; Md. Shafiqur Rahman; Salah Uddin Khan; Andrea Mikolon; Muzaffor G. Osmani; Emily S. Gurley; Ireen Sultana Shanta; Suman Kumer Paul; Laura Macfarlane-...; Ariful Islam; Ausraful Islam; James Desmond; Jonathan H. Epstein; Rachael A. Priestley; Gilbert J. Kersh; Mohammed Ziaur Ra...; Peter Daszak; Stephen P. Luby; Robert F. Massung; Nord Zeidner
• Keywords: Q fever; Coxiella burnetii; Animal ecology; Seroprevalence

We tested 1149 ruminant sera conveniently collected from three districts of Bangladesh to identify the serological evidence of Coxiella burnetii infection in cattle and goats by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We found that 0.7% (8/1149) of ruminants had detectable immunoglobulin G for C. burnetii: 0.65% (4/620) in cattle and 0.76% (4/529) in goats. A sub-set of ruminant samples was retested and confirmed by immunofluorescence assay (18/112). Although we cannot rule out false-positive reactions, our study suggests the presence of C. burnetii in cattle and goats in Bangladesh. Further studies are required to estimate disease burden at the population level and identify risk factors for Q fever in ruminants in Bangladesh.