Rat as an overlooked reservoir for Coxiella burnetii: A public health implication.

Q fever is a zoonosis with a mounting public health concern throughout the world. Rodents have been assumed to be a potential reservoir for Coxiella burnetii, a bacterium which causes Q fever. The current study was carried out to investigate the possible role of rats in the epidemiology of such disease. For this purpose, fecal samples were collected from 75 rats (55 Rattus norvegicus and 20 Rattus rattus) trapped from Giza governorate, Egypt. DNAs were extracted and samples were examined for the presence of C. burnetii using nested PCR technique. Out of examined rats, 5 yielded C. burnetii in their feces with an overall prevalence 6.7%, whereas the prevalence rates among R. norvegicus and R. rattus were (2/55) 3.6% and (3/20) 15% respectively. In addition, the phylogenetic analysis of three selected amplicons (2 R. rattus and one R. norvegicus) revealed that these sequences were highly related to each others and to those detected among humans. In conclusion, the results of the current study point out the role of rats as a potential reservoir for C. burnetii.