Genotyping of C. psittaci in central area of Argentina.

FRUTOS, M; MONETTI, M;; KIGUEN, X; VENEZUELA, F; RE, V; CUFFINI, C

Cordoba

Jornada; XIII JORNADAS DE INVESTIGACIÓN CIENTÍFICA; 2012

Facultad de Ciencias Medicas, UNC

The notification of psittacosis is mandatory in Argentina; however, only a few reports of serologic diagnosis have been published. Diagnosis is often based on clinical and epidemiologic evidence; therefore, these data are not enough for diagnosis of C. psittaci due to a low awareness of the disease and variable clinical presentations. This infection is sub diagnosed and for this reason, it would be necessary to emphasize the need for rapid differential diagnosis and management of suspected cases of psittacosis to prevent fatal outcomes. This report is the first contribution from provincial reference laboratory SIVILA-ANLIS to the molecular identification of C. psittaci in Cordoba, Argentina. Nested PCR of domains II, III and IV of the omp A gene was used to detect C. psittaci in 43 pharyngeal swab samples collected in 2010-2011from patients belonged to Cordoba city in whom psittacosis was suspected based on clinical presentation and/or history of contact with birds. The Ethics Committee of Hospital Clinics University approved the study. Nine (21%) were positive for C. psittaci. The 56% were young workers. We did not find any significant association between age, sex, or home residence and positive PCR. The analysis of the medical records showed that atypical pneumonia was the most frequent clinical presentation (56%), followed by influenza-like illness (33%) and febrile syndrome (11%). Twenty two percent of patients had leukopenia. Ninety percent of the patients reported contact with birds, especially parrots (58%), followed by chickens (24%), feral pigeons (10%), and canaries (8%). Individuals in contact with Psittaciformes were more frequently infected. Molecular typing was performed by direct sequencing demonstrating the presence of C. psittaci genotypes A, E/B, and WC derived from avian and mammal?s genotypes. Our results indicate a high prevalence of mammals' genotypes in Córdoba, suggesting that mammals may represent an underestimated source of C. psittaci strains or that birds may carry strains associated with mammals; as consequence, the classification of these genotypes should be reviewed. All the patients were treated with macrolides or tetracyclines and evolved favourably. The implementation of molecular methods confirms the diagnosis and favors the antimicrobial therapy of diseases produced by C. psittaci also optimizes molecular epidemiological surveillance of this disease.