Prevalence of Chlamydia abortus Antibodies in Horses From the Northern State of Mexico and Its Relationship With Domestic Animals

Abstract Chlamydia abortus is obligate intracellular bacteria that cause a wide range of reproductive and respiratory diseases in animals and humans. Serologic and molecular evidences of C. abortus in Mexico have been reported in sheep and goats. The presence of C. abortus antibodies in horses (n = 301) was detected by a commercial indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test. Additionally, C. abortus antibodies in bovines (n = 25), goats (n = 8), and sheep (n = 94) reared with horses were detected to identify probable animal species that could infect horses. The prevalence obtained was 1.32% for horses, 48% for bovines, 12.5% for goats, and 29.7% for sheep. The 75% of horses seropositive to C. abortus were obtained from farms with the presence of sheep seropositive to C. abortus . These results suggest that the presence of C. abortus in horses from Mexico exist and can be related with the presence of sheep positive to C. abortus .