SEROPREVALENCE OF Q FEVER AMONG SHEEP IN MOSUL CITY, IRAQ

Abstract

The current study aimed to determine the Q fever seroprevalence rate of local sheep in Mosul City in northern Iraq between October 2019 and January 2020. Three hundred and thirty sera were collected and analyzed by a commercial indirect enzyme-linked immune sorbent assays (ELISA) to detect Coxiella burnetii antibodies. A total of 68 animals (seroprevalence: 20.6%) gave positive results. The results showed that the eastern part of Mosul city's prevalence rate was higher than in other areas (28.2%). According to age and sex, the prevalence of adult sheep (21.8%) is higher in females (21.3%) than young sheep (19.4%) and males (19%). Also, we noticed that the infection rate of aborted ewes (26.4%) is higher than that of non-aborted ewes.