A windy day in a sheep saleyard: an outbreak of Q fever in rural South Australia

Abstract

In December 2004, the Department of Human Services investigated an outbreak of Q fever in South Australia. A case-control study tested an association between attending a local saleyard and human illness. A case was defined as a person with clinical illness and evidence of seroconversion or high phase II IgM. Controls were selected from a database of community controls matched on sex, age group and postcode. Matched analysis of the first 15 cases with 45 controls indicated that contracting Q fever was associated with attending the saleyard on one particular day (adjusted odds ratio 15·3, 95% confidence interval 1·7-undefined, P = 0·014). Saleyard conditions were windy and conducive for airborne dispersal of contaminated particles. In total, 25 cases were detected. Of these, 22 cases had attended a local saleyard on the same day. This outbreak suggests cases were probably infected by a single exposure at a saleyard from infected sheep and dust. The investigation resulted in an increase in the local uptake of Q fever vaccination and extension of the Australian national vaccination programme.

Seroepidemiology of Q fever in one-humped camel population in northeast Iran

“…Since our sampling was mainly performed in rural areas, poor hygiene could exacerbate the spread of Coxiella burnetii (Luoto 1960;Lyytikäinen et al 1998). It appears that the camel is likely to harbor high levels of Coxiella burnetii and capable of shedding the bacterium through milk, blood, feces, and urine and especially in birth by-products (Arricau-Bouvery and Rodolakis 2005;TissotDupont et al 2007;Schimmer et al 2010;Bielawska-Drózd et al 2013;Tozer et al 2013;Mohammed et al 2014;Schimmer et al 2014;O'Connor et al 2015;Pimenta et al 2015;Moffatt et al 2015;Nusinovici et al 2015;van den Brom et al 2015). Environment contamination of Coxiella burnetii events lasts for months and even years; so, inhalation of dust (aerosol contamination) is also very critical for farm animals and public health.…”

“…Many other authors previously have reported antibodies against Coxiella burnetii in the sera of camels (Mathur and Bhargava 1979), with no clinical sign. It is generally known that farm animals serve primarily as asymptomatic carriers of Coxiella burnetii and that organism resides abundantly in their placenta and udder and may be shed for extended periods in milk, urine, feces, and birth fluids thus exposing other animals, and people to Coxiella burnetii (Maurin and Raoult 1999;Tissot-Dupont et al 2007;Tozer et al 2013;O'Connor et al 2015;Pimenta et al 2015). Therefore, owing to camel booming potential for meat/milk production, biomedicine, and agrotourism in this harshly dried environment (i.e., the agroecologically and geopolitically important current study zone), ordinary people are simply contacted by camel, and camel contribution to the risk of Q fever in human should be established without reasonable doubt.…”

“…It is highly pathogenic (i.e., only one organism can be enough to infect farm animals and humans (Ormsbee et al 1978;Ruiz and Wolfe 2014;van Loenhout et al 2015). A wide variety of animals can be infected with Coxiella burnetii, including ruminants, dogs, cats, non-human primates, reptiles, birds, fish, and even ticks (Norlander 2000;Tissot-Dupont et al 2007;Tozer et al 2013;O'Connor et al 2015;Pimenta et al 2015). Ruminants are the main reservoirs.…”

“…Coxiella burnetii infection might be the cause of abortion, stillbirth, low birth weight, infertility, and heart failure in cattle, sheep, and goat (Marrie et al 1996), leading to economic loss and public health risk. Infected animals and humans shed the bacterium through urogenital, gastrointestinal tracts and milk; it also notoriously spreads through inhalation of infected aerosol (Arricau-Bouvery and Rodolakis 2005;Tissot-Dupont et al 2007;Schimmer et al 2010;Tozer et al 2013;Schimmer et al 2014;O'Connor et al 2015;Nusinovici et al 2015;van den Brom et al 2015), widening its transmission routs (i.e., aerosols, milk, and dairy products) and thus Q fever outbreak in rural and urban area.…”

One Health research and training in Australia and New Zealand

“…The majority of research in Australia tends to focus on analysis of notified cases (35), unusual outbreaks, (36, 37), or animal and environmental sources (38). However, a recent study by Bond et al (39) demonstrated the application and outcomes of taking a One Health approach to an outbreak associated with a goat farm.…”