Study of Q Fever in Imported Dairy Cattle from Australia through the Soekarno-Hatta Airport.

Abstract

Q fever is worldwide distributed zoonosis caused by Coxiella burnetii. This intracelluar bacterium infects a wide range of animals and associated with reproductive disorders in domestic ruminants. It can lead an acute and chronic infections and caused flu-like syndrome, hepatitis, pneumonia or endocarditis. The aim of this research is to study Q fever in imported dairy cattle from Australia through the Soekarno-Hatta airport. Forty-six samples of serum and whole blood were taken from imported dairy cattle. Two diagnostic methods used in this study were serological test using enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) and nested polymerase chain reaction (nested PCR). The result of serological test showed that 23 (50%) out of 46 samples were positive but Coxiella burnetii DNA were not detected by nested PCR. These data revealed that Q fever have infected imported dairy cattle from Australia through Soekarno-Hatta airport with 50% of seroprevalence.