MIXED INFECTIONS WITH PORCINE CHLAMYDIA-TRACHOMATIS PECORUM AND INFECTIONS WITH RUMINANT CHLAMYDIA-PSITTACI SEROVAR-1 ASSOCIATED WITH ABORTIONS IN SWINE/

In a previous immunohistological study, chlamydiae were detected in 5 out of 139 cases of swine abortion, and a possible implication of C. p sittaci serovar 1 was suggested, The present study sought to classify the chlamydiae found in the fetal organs of these abortions. DNA extra cted from 15 paraffin-embedded tissue specimens (10 livers and 5 lungs , obtained from 10 fetuses from 9 cases of abortion) was amplified in a nested PCR with Chlamydia omp1 genus-specific primers. Chlamydia DNA was amplified in 9 liver and 2 lung specimens. Eight of the amplifica tion products were cloned, and 5 clones of each amplification were seq uenced. Sequence analysis demonstrated in 7 specimens the simultaneous presence of porcine C., trachomatis S45 and C. pecorum 1710S omp1 gen otypes. All DNA fragments of 1 amplification were identical to the rum inant C. psittaci B577 omp1 genotype (serovar 1). The results suggest that mixed infections with porcine C. trachomatis, and C. pecorum domi nate chlamydial infections associated with abortion in swine, but rumi nant abortigenic C. psittaci are also found. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.