Isolation of Chlamydia abortus in dairy goat herds and its relation to abortion in Guanajuato, Mexico

Veterinaria Mexico OA ISSN: 2448-6760 Cite this as: Mora-Diaz JC, Diaz-Aparicio E, Herrera-Lopez E, Suarez-Guemez F, Escalante-Ochoa C, Jaimes-Villareal S, et al. Isolation of Chlamydia abortus in dairy goat herds and its relation to abortion in Guanajuato, Mexico. Veterinaria Mexico OA. 2015;2(1).doi: 10.21753/vmoa.2.1.339 . Although Chlamydia abortus is classified as an exotic agent in Mexico, there is increasing evidence of its presence. The objective of this study was to isolate C. abortus in dairy goat herds with problems of abortion in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, and to develop appropriate diagnostic methods for its detection. Serological samples and vaginal swabs were taken from 6 dairy goat herds. The ELISA revealed a seropositivity of 9.60% for C. abortus . The PCR test based on the vaginal mucus samples resulted in 30 of 126 positive animals (23.8%). Chlamydia spp. were isolated in 34 of the 126 animals tested (26.98%). The 3 diagnostic methods tested were valuable and complementary in zones where Chlamydia is suspected to cause abortions. We demonstrated that the bacteria are present in dairy goat herds of Mexico; thus, Veterinary Sanitary Authorities should consider this disease endemic to establish sanitary procedures to control the spread of the disease and to prevent human transmission. Table 2. A comparison of 3 diagnostic tests for small ruminant enzootic abortion. The PCR and bacterial isolation were performed from vaginal swabs of goats that had recently given birth or from aborted goats. The ELISA was conducted with the commercial IDEXX Chlamydiosis Verification Test kit (IDDEX Laboratories Inc.).