For rapid detection of the Chlamydia psittaci (C. psittaci) abortus strain, a loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay (LAMP) assay was developed and evaluated in this study. The primers for the LAMP assay were designed on the basis of the main outer membrane protein (MOMP) gene sequence of C. psittaci. Analysis showed that the assay could detect the abortus strain of C. psittaci with adequate specificity. The sensitivity of the test was the same as that of the conventional nested-conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and higher than that of chick embryo isolation. Testing of 153 samples indicated that the LAMP assay could detect the genome of the C. psittaci abortus strain effectively in clinical samples. This assay is a useful tool for rapid diagnosis of C. psittaci infection in sheep, swine and cattle.

Key words: Chlamydia psittaci, LAMP, MOMP gene, PCR