Confronto fra gli esiti analitici della PCR e della FDC nelle infezioni sostenute da Chlamydophila abortus in allevamenti di ruminanti domestici del Centro Italia - Comparison between the analytical outcomes of the PCR and FDC in the infections by Chlamydophila abortus in domestic ruminants in the Central Italy

Chlamydophila abortus (Cp. abortus) is one of the most common infectious bacteria causing abortion in pregnant sheep (Enzootic Abortion of Ewes - EAE), also responsible for infections in goats, cattle, pigs and humans. Abortion usually occurs 2-3 weeks before the end of gestation with the birth of dead or weak lambs. Routine diagnosis of Chlamydiosis is based on the detection of specific antibodies (indirect diagnosis) or by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (direct diagnosis). The most widely accepted serological test is the complement fixation test (CFT) but recently a number of commercially enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests are available. The aim of this work was to verify if the CFT, used in our laboratories, can be still considered a valid indirect diagnostic technique for EAE. To this purpose, we compared the CFT and PCR results from samples of the same tested farms