CHLAMYDIA IN CATTLE,
A CAUSE FOR CONCERN?
During the year 1996 farmers and vets alike were puzzled by a change in
disease pattern in cattle that couldn’t be readily explained. Although,
at this time, it looked as only single animals in a herd were affected,
with hindsight it turned out to be far more widespread than previously diagnosed.
The symptoms of the condition I refer to as Chlamydiosis are varying, Chlamydia
infection may lead to different diseases in a given host species which are
difficult to distinguish from diseases with similar symptoms but caused
by other infectious agents.
The genus Chlamydia comprises a unique class of bacteria that cause infection
in men and animals. This intracellular pathogen develops within a vacuole
inside the host cell, termed an inclusion. Like a virus, the organism replicates
only within the host cell, hence Chlamydia are described as obligate intracellular
parasites. Sabine Zentis
Quantitative Detection
of Chlamydia psittaci and C. pecorum by High-Sensitivity Real-Time PCR Reveals
High Prevalence of Vaginal Infection in Cattle
Over the last 40 years, evidence has accumulated to suggest the ubiquitous
presence of infections with intracellular bacteria of the genus Chlamydia
in cattle and other livestock species. Despite some improvement in diagnostic
techniques, our understanding about the prevalence and pathogenetic significance
of these infections, succinctly reviewed by Shewen (11) in 1980, has not
substantially changed since that time. Fred
J. DeGraves et al
