Abdul Naser Al-Omar(1)*, Morshed Kassouha(2), Ashraf Alsaleh(2)
(1) Hama Research Center, General Commission For Scientific Agricultural Research (GSCAR), Syria.
(2) Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hama University, Hama, Syria.
(*Corresponding author: Dr. Abdul Naser Al Omar E-mail: abdnaser64@gmail.com).
Received: 17/10/2022 Accepted:27/10/2022
Abstract:
This study was conducted during the years 2021 and 2022 with the aim of revealing the potency of ticks parasites in Syria to carry the Coxiella burnetti bacterium, which causes Q fever using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Tick samples were collected from 45 herds of sheep and goats distributed over the governorates of Hama, Homs and Rif-Damascus. The targeted herds included 36 herds of sheep and 9 herds of goats. The genera of collected ticks was identified and belonged to only two of the genera known to this parasite, genus G. Rhipicephalus and genus G. Hyalomma, with a prevalence rates of 60% and 40%, respectively. 3 Tick parasites were collected in one tube from each flock and DNA was extracted from them as a single sample, and then a PCR test was performed on the extract. The results of the PCR test which was performed on the extracted DNA samples showed that six of them were positive for the presence of Coxiella burnetti in each of the ticks collected from sheep and goats, where the result appeared positive in two samples from goat ticks and four samples from sheep ticks. It was noted that the two positive goat tick samples were from two flocks in which abortion of unknown cause occurred. On the other hand, only one sample was positive in sheep ticks was collected from herd sufferd from abortion. The six positive samples were distributed equally between the two genera Rhipicephalus and Hyalomma (50% each), meaning that the two genera are able to borne and transmit Coxiella burnetti. Also, positive cases were recorded from the three governorates from which samples were collected. This study recommends continuing work on Coxiella burnetti in ruminants in general, and educating the farmers about this common pathogen, with increased interest in controlling ticks, as they are a vector of many bacterial, parasitic and viral diseases in humans and animals.
Keywords: Coxiella burnetii, Ticks, Sheep, Goats, Syria, PCR.
Full paper in Arabic: pdf