Examining the contamination of lymph nodes of cattle and sheep carcasses in Qom province with Brucella by real-time PCR

Brucellosis is one of the most common diseases among humans and animals and is endemic in Iran. Therefore, the rapid diagnosis of this disease plays a vital role in improving public health. Considering the characteristics such as being hard to grow, the risks associated with the cultivation, and the presence of cross-reactions with other bacteria in serological tests, in the present study, Real-time PCR is used as a method with high sensitivity and specificity to check contamination Cow and sheep carcasses were used for Brucella bacteria species. In this study, samples were collected from the lymph nodes of slaughtered animals, including 30 samples of sheep and goats and 14 samples of cows in the slaughterhouses of Qom city and using three pairs of primers related to IS711, BMEII0466 and BruAb2_0168 genes, which is specific to the Brucella genus and Brucella melitensis and Brucella abortus, respectively. A Real-time PCR test was performed. Of the 44 tested samples, 11 samples (20.37%) were found to be infected with Brucella spp, three samples were contaminated with Brucella melitensis (5.5%), and 8 samples were infected with Brucella abortus (14.81%). According to the results, out of 3 positive samples related to Brucella melitensis, two samples were related to sheep, and one sample was related to cattle, and out of 8 positive samples associated with Brucella abortus, all of them were related to samples taken from cows. Therefore, according to the percentage of samples contaminated with Brucella bacteria and the health and economic losses of this disease, it is necessary to adopt more accurate and efficient control and monitoring programs to prevent and control the disease.