Chlamydiaceae family, Parachlamydia spp., and Waddlia spp. in porcine abortion

J Vet Diagn Invest. 2012 Sep;24(5):833-9. doi: 10.1177/1040638712452729. Epub 2012 Aug 1.

Abstract

At present, despite extensive laboratory investigations, most cases of porcine abortion remain without an etiological diagnosis. Due to a lack of recent data on the abortigenic effect of order Chlamydiales, 286 fetuses and their placentae of 113 abortion cases (1-5 fetuses per abortion case) were investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods for family Chlamydiaceae and selected Chlamydia-like organisms such as Parachlamydia acanthamoebae and Waddlia chondrophila. In 0.35% of the cases (1/286 fetuses), the Chlamydiaceae real-time PCR was positive. In the Chlamydiaceae-positive fetus, Chlamydia abortus was detected by a commercial microarray and 16S ribosomal RNA PCR followed by sequencing. The positive fetus had a Porcine circovirus-2 coinfection. By the Parachlamydia real-time PCR, 3.5% (10/286 fetuses of 9 abortion cases) were questionable positive (threshold cycle values: 35.0-45.0). In 2 of these 10 cases, a confirmation by Chlamydiales-specific real-time PCR was possible. All samples tested negative by the Waddlia real-time PCR. It seems unlikely that Chlamydiaceae, Parachlamydia, and Waddlia play an important role as abortigenic agents in Swiss sows.

MeSH terms

  • Aborted Fetus / microbiology
  • Abortion, Veterinary / microbiology*
  • Animals
  • Chlamydiales / isolation & purification*
  • DNA, Bacterial / classification
  • Female
  • Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / microbiology
  • Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / veterinary*
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / microbiology
  • Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / veterinary*
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Species Specificity
  • Swine
  • Swine Diseases / microbiology*

Substances

  • DNA, Bacterial