GENOTYPING OF THE CAUSATIVE AGENT OF BRUCELLOSIS CIRCULATING IN THE TERRITORY OF THE WEST KAZAKHSTAN REGION

Abstract

Brucellosis affects all animals and people. In Kazakhstan, brucellosis is an endemic disease of animals and humans. Traditional biotyping methods cannot differentiate closely related brucella species and their biowars or track the outbreak's source. In our study, we carried out genotyping of brucella circulating in the territory of the West Kazakhstan region using the method of molecular typing - a multilocus analysis of the variable number of tandem repeats. As a result of the conducted studies, four genotypes of B. abortus were identified from 13 heads of cattle, and two genotypes of B. melitensis were identified from 11 heads of small ruminants and two heads of cattle. Cross-infection of brucella has been observed in secondary host animals; namely, infection in cattle was caused by B. melitensis. The most common genotype in small ruminants was B. melitensis genotype 3, which belongs to the Eastern Mediterranean lineage and circulates throughout Asia. Strains of B. abortus differ from global strains. Studying Brucella genotypes is necessary to track outbreaks in the final stages of a brucellosis eradication program or to track sources of infection in humans and animals in non-endemic areas of Kazakhstan.