Chlamydiae in free-ranging and captive frogs in Switzerland

Vet Pathol. 2007 Mar;44(2):144-50. doi: 10.1354/vp.44-2-144.

Abstract

A total of 210 frog samples originating either from a mass mortality (1991/1992) or from routine postmortem investigations of the years 1990 to 2004 were examined retrospectively for a possible involvement of Chlamydiae. For a prevalence study of Chlamydia in a selected Swiss amphibian population, 403 samples from free-ranging Rana temporaria were examined. Histopathology, immunohistochemistry using a monoclonal antibody against chlamydial lipopolysaccharide, and a 16S rRNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by DNA sequencing were performed on the formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues. Using PCR, 8 of 54 (14.8%) frog samples from the mass mortality (1991/1992) were positive for Chlamydia suis S45. A control group of healthy Xenopus laevis had 3 of 38 positive samples, sequenced as C suis S45 (2/3) and an endosymbiont of Acanthamoeba species UWE1 (1/3). Chlamydophila pneumoniae TW-183 was detected from exotic frogs kept in a zoo. Of the frogs collected for the prevalence study, 6 of 238 (2.5%) tested positive, 1 each for C suis S45, Cp pneumoniae TW-183, and uncultured Chlamydiales CRG22, and the remaining 3 revealed Chlamydophila abortus S26/3. In immunohistochemistry, there were 2 positive labeling reactions, 1 in intestine and the other in the epithelium coating the body cavity, both testing positive for Cp pneumoniae TW-183 in PCR. Histologically there were no lesions recorded being characteristic for Chlamydia. Although there is a prevalence of Chlamydia in Swiss frogs, no connection to a mass mortality (1991/1992) could be established. For the first time, C suis S45 and Cp abortus S26/3 were detected in frog material.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anura / microbiology*
  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / chemistry
  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / genetics
  • Chlamydia / genetics
  • Chlamydia / growth & development*
  • Chlamydia Infections / epidemiology*
  • Chlamydia Infections / microbiology
  • Chlamydia Infections / veterinary*
  • DNA, Bacterial / chemistry
  • DNA, Bacterial / genetics
  • Disease Outbreaks / veterinary*
  • Immunohistochemistry / veterinary
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction / veterinary
  • Prevalence
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / chemistry
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Switzerland / epidemiology

Substances

  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins
  • DNA, Bacterial
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
  • OMPA outer membrane proteins