Seroprevalence of Lyme disease and Q fever in referred dogs to veterinary hospital of Ahvaz

Lyme disease and Q fever are zoonotic diseases caused by two gram negative bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi and Coxiellaburnetii, respectively. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi and Coxiella burnetii in the referred dogs to Veterinary Hospital of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz. Serum samples from 182 dogs referred to Veterinary Hospital with different sex, race and age was collected and examined by ELISA assay. The collected data was analyzed by using SPSS version 16 and Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Mann Whitney tests. Seroprevalence of both Q fever and Lyme disease was 0.55% (95% CI: 0-2.7%) The present study showed seroprevalence of Lyme disease and Q fever in the referred dogs to Veterinary Hospital of Ahvaz is negligible and these animals do not have an important role in the epidemiology of these two diseases. For clarification of the epidemiological situation, other animals must be considered.