DETECTION OF <i>CHLAMYDIA AVIUM</i> IN FERAL PIGEONS IN UKRAINE
The purpose of this work was to study the biodiversity of chlamydia in feral pigeons in Kiev and Bila Tserkva by means of real-time polymerase chain reaction assay. Materials and methods. Cloacal, cojunctival, and nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from 135 pigeons in cities of Kiev and Bila Tserkva (Kiev region). A commercial High Pure PCR Template Preparation Kit (Roche Diagnostics, Germany) was used for DNA extraction. For real-time PCR TaqMan Universal MasterMix (Applied Biosystems, Weiterstadt) as well as primers and probes designed for segments of 23S, 16S and enoA genes described by Ehricht et al. (2006) and Zocevic et al. (2012, 2013) were used. Results. The Chlamydia DNA was found in 21 out of 135 clinical samples from pigeons, which constitutes 15,6% of all samples tested. Fifteen birds (11,1 % of the total number of pigeons tested) were infected with C. psittaci, and 6 (4,5%) were infected with C. avium. Thus, of the total number of birds in which the Chlamydia DNA was detected 71,4% were found to be carriers of C. psittaci and 28,6% - of C. avium. Thirteen of 105 clinically healthy pigeons (12,4%) were found to be infected with C. psittaci and 5 (4,7%) - with C. avium. Conclusions. 1. The pathogenic Chlamydia species C. avium was detected on the territory of Ukraine, and 4,5% of feral pigeons of Kiev and Bila Tserkva (Kiev region) were determined to be the carriers of this pathogen. This study also showed that 11,1% of pigeons are C. psittaci carriers. 2. C. psittaci and C. avium constitute 71,4% and 28,6% respectively in the structure of chlamydiosis in feral pigeons. 3. Clinically healthy pigeons can be carriers of both C. psittaci (12,4%) and C. avium (4,7%).