Chlamydia caviae in Swiss and Dutch Guinea Pigs—Occurrence and Genetic Diversity

Chlamydia (C.) caviae is a known pathogen in guinea pigs, causing conjunctivitis, respiratory infections and abortions. Recently, a C. caviae-induced zoonotic link was identified as the etiology of severe community-acquired pneumonia in humans. Here, 784 conjunctival and rectal swabs originating fro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pathogens (Basel) 2021-09, Vol.10 (10), p.1230
Main Authors: Ciuria, Silvia, Brouwer, Michael S. M., de Gier, Marende M., van Zeeland, Yvonne, Bossers, Alex, Prähauser, Barbara, Schädler, Julia, Hatt, Jean-Michel, Heijne, Marloes, Borel, Nicole
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal species
Animals
Cavia porcellus
Chlamydia
Chlamydia caviae
Chlamydia psittaci
Chlamydiaceae
Cloning
Conjunctivitis
Etiology
Genetic diversity
Genotypes
Genotyping
Guinea pigs
Infections
Nucleotides
Oryctolagus cuniculus
Pathogens
Pneumonia
Rabbits
Sexually transmitted diseases
STD
Swine
Zoonoses
zoonotic potential
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Summary:Chlamydia (C.) caviae is a known pathogen in guinea pigs, causing conjunctivitis, respiratory infections and abortions. Recently, a C. caviae-induced zoonotic link was identified as the etiology of severe community-acquired pneumonia in humans. Here, 784 conjunctival and rectal swabs originating from 260 guinea pigs and 110 rabbits from 64 husbandries in Switzerland, as well as 200 composite conjunctival swabs originating from 878 guinea pigs from 37 husbandries in The Netherlands were examined by real-time PCR followed by conventional PCR and sequencing. Chlamydiaceae were detected in 2.3% (18/784) and 12.5% (25/200) of all Swiss and Dutch samples, respectively. An overall C. caviae occurrence was detected in 2.7% (7/260) and 8.9% (78/878) of all Swiss and Dutch guinea pigs, respectively. OmpA genotyping of 64 C. caviae-positive samples resulted in 33 sequences sharing 100% nucleotide identity with the strains isolated from the zoonotic transmission cases in The Netherlands. However, all ompA sequences of this study were distinct from the C. caviae GPIC reference strain. C. caviae was not detected in rabbits but C. psittaci genotype A was identified in guinea pigs and rabbits, raising concerns about the importance of these animal species as novel zoonotic sources for C. psittaci.
ISSN:2076-0817
2076-0817
DOI:10.3390/pathogens10101230