REGULAR ARTICLES Detection and genotyping of Chlamydia species responsible for reproductive disorders in Algerian small ruminants Salah-Eddine Merdja & Hamza Khaled & Rachid Aaziz & Fabien Vorimore & Claire Bertin & Ali Dahmani & Abdallah Bouyoucef & Karine Laroucau Received: 6 March 2014 /Accepted: 2 December 2014 # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014 Abstract Chlamydiosis in small ruminants is a zoonotic dis- ease mainly related to Chlamydia abortus. This bacterium is responsible for abortions and reproductive disorders in sheep and goats. Stillbirth and infertility, leading to important eco- nomic losses, are also associated with this pathology. In Algeria, abortion cases are frequently reported by veterinar- ians but, except for brucellosis which is a notifiable disease in this country, abortive diseases are in general poorly studied. In order to detect and genotype Chlamydia species in small ruminants in different areas of Algeria, a study was conducted on samples collected from females (164 blood samples and 199 vaginal swabs) between October 2011 and March 2013. Serum samples were tested with a C. abortus-specific indirect ELISA test. Fourteen samples (8.5 %), from six farms (6/20, 30 %) were tested positive. Vaginal swabs were analysed with a real-time PCR targeting all Chlamydiaceae spp. Thirty samples (15 %) were diagnosed positive in 16 farms (16/25, 64 %). Positive samples were all re-tested with a C. abortus- and a C. pecorum-specific real-time PCR. Finally, 13/30 (43.3 %) and 6/30 (20 %) were identified as C. abortus and C. pecorum, respectively. Enough concentrated C. abortus samples were genotyped by multi-loci variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) analysis (MLVA), and all were related to the genotype [2] group which mainly includes French C. abortus isolates. C. pecorum-positive samples were geno- typed by multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). Interestingly, two of them were successfully genotyped and showed identi- cal MLST sequences to VB2, AB10, E58 and SBE, a group which includes C. pecorum isolates considered as highly pathogenic. These findings suggest a possible role of C. abortus and C. pecorum strains in the aetiology of abortion in Algerian small ruminants. Keywords Chlamydia . Small ruminants . Reproductive disorders . Indirect ELISA . Real-time PCR . Genotyping Introduction The family Chlamydiaceae is composed of a group of obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacterial pathogens which are widely distributed throughout the world, causing a wide range of infections and disease in animals and humans. With the recombined single genus Chlamydia, the family is currently composed of nine species including those that infect humans, causing sexually transmitted infections ( Chlamydia trachomatis) and pneumonia (Chlamydia pneumonia); those infecting birds, causing psittacosis/ornithosis (Chlamydia psittaci), and ruminants and pigs, resulting in reproductive and respiratory disorders; and those causing enteritis, polyarthritis, encephalomyelitis, conjunctivitis, endometritis and mastitis (Chlamydia abortus, Chlamydia suis and Chla- mydia pecorum). Several of these species, particularly C. psittaci and C. abortus, are known to be transmissible from animals to humans, where they cause significant zoonotic infections. C. abortus and C. pecorum have been reported to cause infections in small ruminants (Lenzko et al. 2011). C. abortus is the causative agent of abortion and foetal loss in sheep, goats and cattle in many countries around the world (Aitken and Longbottom 2007). In addition, the bacterium has been isolated from cases of epididymitis, pneumonia, arthritis and conjunctivitis and from the faeces of healthy sheep and goats (Denamur et al. 1991; Souriau et al. 1993; Salinas et al. 1995; Salti-Montesanto et al. 1997). C. abortus has also been S.<E. Merdja (*) : H. Khaled : A. Dahmani : A. Bouyoucef Institute of Veterinary Science, University of Blida, 09000 Blida, Algeria e-mail: merdja.salaheddine@gmail.com R. Aaziz : F. Vorimore : C. Bertin : K. Laroucau Bacterial Zoonoses Unit, Animal Health Laboratory, ANSES, University of Paris-Est, 94706 Maisons-Alfort, France Trop Anim Health Prod DOI 10.1007/s11250-014-0743-x