Genomic Detection of Brucella Abortus in Milk obtained from Farms in Lorestan Province using PCR Method

 Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease which has become endemic in Iran. Contaminated milk with Brucella bacteria is the main way of transmission of this disease in humans. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Brucella spp. and B. abortus in raw milk samples collected from farms belongs to six geographical areas of Lorestan province.

 In the present study, 100 raw milk samples of cows which were less than 4 years, 4 to 6 years and over 6 years old were randomly collected. The isolates were identified by PCR method using specific bcsp31 and IS711 primers for Brucella spp. and B. abortus, respectively.

The results showed that 26 of the samples were infected with Brucella bacteria, of which 19 samples (73%) were B. abortus. Most of the brucellosis infection in cows belonged to cows less than 4 years (31.4%) and 4 to 6 years (31.4%) categories, 11 samples in both groups, so that in cows older than 6 years this rate was 13% (4 samples). The east of the province with 12 samples and the northwest of the province with one sample showed the highest and lowest levels of Brucella infection, respectively. The findings demonstrated that there is a significant difference between the frequency of Brucella contamination in milk in the eastern regions of Lorestan province with other regions (p<0.05). It should be noted that the possibility of transmitting brucellosis to humans through consumption of contaminated raw milk and dairy products in Lorestan province is high.