Molecular detection of Brucella melitensis, Salmonella abortusovis, Chlamydophila abortus and Coxiella burnetii in aborted ewes with in-house multiplex PCR method

Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR) is an advanced method of molecular diagnostic techniques which allows for simultaneous detection of multiple pathogens in the same sample. The advantages of the multiplex PCR method were assessed by various researchers by comparing the diagnosis results obtained with different other conventional methods. An in-house multiplex PCR method was designed and evaluated for detection of Brucella melitensis, Salmonella abortusovis, Chlamydophila abortus and Coxiella burnetii, which are the most frequent agents in ewe’s abortion. For this purpose, 98 samples of abomasal liquid's contents of the aborted fetuses were collected from three geographic areas of Iran include Isfahan, Khorasan Razavi and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari provinces and tested by multiplex PCR. Brucella melitensis Salmonella abortusovis and Chlamydophila abortus were found in 15.3%, 11.2% of 7.14% of samples respectively. Coxiella burnetii was not found in any sample. In general, the results of this study were showed that Brucella melitensis, Salmonella abortusovis, Chlamydophila abortus are the most important pathogens of ewe’s abortion and this in-house multiplex PCR test can be used to identify the causative agent of abortion in ewe in one tube.