DETECTION OF COXIELLA-BURNETII IN COWS MILK USING THE POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION (PCR)

A PCR approach (transposon PCR) with primers based on repetitive trans poson-like sequences, which - depending on the isolate - were found at a minimum frequency of 19 on the C. burnetii genome, was established for the highly sensitive and specific detection of C. burnetii. This s tudy describes the analytical detection of C. burnetii in milk, which requires a special preparation method prior to PCR. Because of the low level of C. burnetii particles in milk samples, template DNA was conc entrated by a factor of 200, using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as t he precipitation reagent. Using this particular preparation method, ev en a single C. burnetii particle could be detected in 1 ml milk.