Monitoring of humans and animals for the presence of various Rickettsiae and Coxiella burnetii by serological methods.

Serological examination of humans in Slovakia suspected of having rickettsial infections revealed the presence of antibodies to spotted fever group rickettsiae (R. conorii, R. slovaca, and R. typhi). Of interest is the finding of serological positivity to the newly recognized "IRS" agent. Antibodies to these rickettsiae and to C. burnetii were demonstrated also in domestic and hunting dogs and pet animals. These results confirm the occurrence and possible circulation of these rickettsiae and C. burnetii in the Slovak Republic.

Suitability of various Coxiella burnetii antigen preparations for detection of serum antibodies by various tests.

Comparison of four serological tests (complement fixation (CF) test, microagglutination (MA) test, microimmunofluorescence (MIF) test, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)) for detection of post-infection antibody response in human and animal sera revealed a low sensitivity of the CF test with acute Q fever human, goat and sheep sera but not with chronic Q fever human sera and sera of aborting cows. The remaining three tests gave similar results with human (both acute and chronic) and cow sera, but the ELISA was more sensitive than the MA and MIF tests with goat and sheep sera. A treatment of phase I Coxiella burnetii (C.b.) cells with chloroform-methanol, potassium periodate and trichloroacetic acid (TCA), and mild acidic hydrolysis did not result in increase of the sensitivity of the tests when compared with the natural phase I and phase II C.b. cells, respectively. The suitability of various C.b. antigen preparations for the abovementioned serological tests with various sera is discussed.