Presence of Chlamydia abortus in goats with a history of abortions in Mexico

Chlamydia abortus causes a series of reproductive disorders in ruminants, including abortions, premature births and stillbirths. Additionally, as a zoonosis, it can cause miscarriages or pneumonia in people who come in contact with sick animals or their secretions. The objective of this study was to isolate C. abortus from Mexican goats with a history of abortion and from recently parturient goats with a history of abortion; 186 samples were collected from 49 herds in Coahuila, Jalisco, Puebla, Veracruz and Queretaro states. Bacterial isolation of the clinical samples was performed using the mouse fibroblast cell line L929 and molecular identification was achieved by amplification of a 342 bp fragment corresponding to the 16S-23S ribosomal intergenic spacer RNA region. The amplification products were sequenced and compared with the GenBank database. Isolation identified 23.1% of the samples and PCR identified 9.6% as positive. Homology search revealed 100% identity with Chlamydia abortus EF486854, U76710, U68444, among others. The presence of C. abortus was confirmed in goats with a history of abortion in Mexico by bacterial isolation, PCR and sequencing. These findings suggest that C. abortus played a substantial role in goats with a history of abortion in Mexico.