Prevalence of chlamydia psittaci in pigeons in Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari and Yazd provinces of Iran, by nested-PCR, 2012

Chlamydia psittaci is an intracellular bacterium that may cause endemic avian chlamydios is and respiratory psittacosis in humans. Feral birds and domesticated poultry are considered as potential hosts. While feral pigeons in towns worldwide are commonly infected, infection may occur via inhalation of aerosols of dried infective avian excreta. The aim of this study was the determination of prevalence of C. psittaci in feces of pigeons in Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari and Yazd provinces in Iran using nested PCR. Samples were collected from pigeons in bird shops, backyards or cages in houses. Eighty eight genomic DNAs were extracted from the samples with a DNA purification kit (CinnaGen Inc. Iran) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Extracted DNA was tested to detect C. psittaci DNA by a nested genus- and species-specific PCR. Primers were designed to amplify 16s rRNA. The first pair of primers was specific for the genus, and the second pair was specific to the species of C. psittaci. he average infection rate was about %52 (46 samples from 88 samples). T It shows that a relatively high percentage of pigeons were infected with C. psittaci and may be able to play an important role as a source of infection for human or other mammals. More studies should be done to find more information like predominant genotypes of C. psittaci in Iran.