Sero-prevalence of Chlamydophila abortus in goat farms in Duhok Province-Iraq

Abstract

Chlamydophila abortus is still considered one of the most common causes of reproductive defeat in goats all over the world. In Duhok province, no data for the presence of Chla-mydophila abortus infection has been reported. This is a preliminary study on a seroprevalence of C. abortus antibodies by using ELISA test from goat’s flocks in Duhok province. Total of 92 female goats, that were ≥ 12 months old, were randomly selected from three flocks (Zakho, Amedy, and Summer districts) of 250 total animal populations in each flock in these three different districts in Duhok province from March to April 2013. From each individual animal, 5 ml of blood was collected from the jugular vein and put them in EDTA tubes for harvesting serum. Out of 92 dairy goats examined, 11.9% were seropositive for C. abortus antibodies. The highest percentage was reported to be in Summer district, then followed by Zakho district. The lowest rate was reported to be in Amedy district. The high percentage of seropositive goats found in this study reflect that this pathogen is highly available in this areas and need further researches to identify the pathogen on a wide country level on many animal species with excellent quality control programs to eradicate this pathogen.