First Molecular Evidence of Coxiella burnetii
in Ticks Collected from Dromedary Camels in Punjab, Pakistan
Shujaat Hussain*1, Muhammad Saqib1,
Khurram Ashfaq1 and Zia ud Din Sindhu2
1Department of Clinical
Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of
Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38040 Pakistan; 2Department of
Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of
Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan *Corresponding author: drshujaat@uaar.edu.pk
Abstract
This study surveyed the existence of the
Coxiella burnetii in ticks removed from camels in three different regions of
the Punjab, Pakistan. A total of 325 ixodid ticks were analyzed for the
occurrence of C. burnetii DNA by real-time polymerase chain reaction.
Before analyses, all ticks were pooled into 30, 20 and 15 pools from Southern,
Northern and Central Punjab, correspondingly. Each pool was comprised of five
engorged or semi-engorged ticks according to species. Pooled based prevalence in
Southern Punjab was eighteen from 30 pools (60%), leading to maximum-likelihood
of true prevalence of 0.56% (95% CI 0.23-1.31), while pooled prevalence in
Northern Punjab was eight from 20 pools (40%), leading to maximum-likelihood of
the true prevalence of 0.44% (95% CI 0.31-0.89) and none of the pooled samples
from Central Punjab were found positive for C. burnetii.During
classification of tick pools based on species, infection was diagnosed in 75%
(09/12) of H. dromedary, 42.8% (03/07) of H. anatolicum, 50% (01/02) of H. scupense, 60% (03/05) of R. microplus, and 50% (02/04) of R. annulatus in Southern Punjab. In comparison, infection was detected in 37.5% (03/08) of H.
dromedary, 23% (01/04) of H. anatolicum, 0% of H. scupense, 66.7% (02/03) of R. microplus and 66.7% (02/03) of R. annulatus in Northern region. The detection ofC. burnetii implies important role of ticks in
the dissemination of this bacterium in Punjab, Pakistan and reveals that ticks
have a major contribution to the epidemiology of coxiellosis in this ecological
system. These judgments warrant further molecular investigations for better
perception about C. burnetii epidemiology and its contributions to humans
and animal disease in Pakistan.
To Cite This Article:
Hussain S, Saqib M, Ashfaq K and Sindhu ZUD,
2021. First molecular evidence of Coxiella burnetii in ticks collected
from dromedary camels in Punjab, Pakistan.
Pak Vet J, 42(2): 276-280.
http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2021.073