Influence of the Environment and Occupational Exposure on the Occurrence of Q Fever

Dorko, Erik; Rimárová, Kvetoslava; Pilipčinec, E.

doi:10.21101/cejph.a3754

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(55 reference statements)

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“…The disease, present throughout the world, is an occupational hazard for those who work in rural settings and in contact with animals, especially the operators of the livestock industry (veterinarians, tanners, and wool carders). This motivated some countries to undertake vaccination programmes for workers at risk of contracting the disease [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of seroprevalence against <i>Coxiella burnetii</i> in a sample of farm workers in Western Sicily

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Vesco

Villari

et al. 2015

Ann Agric Environ Med.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of seroprevalence against <i>Coxiella burnetii</i> in a sample of farm workers in Western Sicily

Verso

Vesco

Villari

et al. 2015

Ann Agric Environ Med.

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“…However, there are also studies that showed that living close to an infected dairy goat farm increases the risk for acquiring acute Q fever [ 22 ],[ 23 ],[ 26 ] without occupational exposure playing a role [ 22 ]. People without direct contact with animals or animal products can also become infected, for example laundry workers that handle contaminated clothing [ 8 ],[ 10 ]. A study on the risk of acquiring Q fever on a livestock farm concluded that contact with the farm environment rather than contact with a specific farm animal is related to the risk of Q fever [ 32 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The primary source of infection is the inhalation of contaminated aerosols [ 1 ],[ 9 ],[ 10 ], that originate directly from animals or from a contaminated environment [ 9 ],[ 11 ]. People working in certain occupations are considered to be highly exposed to C. burnetii [ 1 ],[ 8 ],[ 12 ]-[ 19 ], which includes livestock farmers, veterinarians, students and personnel of veterinary schools/universities and veterinary hospitals, slaughterhouse workers, and laboratory workers [ 1 ],[ 8 ],[ 10 ],[ 15 ]. Being present when animals give birth increases the risk of infection, since high concentrations of bacteria are found in placental material [ 11 ],[ 20 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rather, the highest risk was for people living close to infected dairy goat farms [ 21 ]-[ 23 ]. C. burnetii can survive for months in the environment in a spore-like form, which may be a source of infection for people that participate in outdoor activities [ 10 ]. Environmental conditions in the surrounding of an infected farm might play a role in the spread of the infection: dry soil conditions with little vegetation and high particulate matter concentrations in the air are possible risk factors [ 24 ]-[ 26 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Persistent high antibody titres against Coxiella burnetiiafter acute Q fever not explained by continued exposure to the source of infection: a case-control study

et al. 2014

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BackgroundFrom 2007 to 2010, (the southern part of) the Netherlands experienced a large Q fever epidemic, with more than 4,000 reported symptomatic cases. Approximately 1 - 5% of the acute Q fever patients develop chronic Q fever. A high IgG antibody titre against phase I of Coxiella burnetii during follow-up is considered a marker of chronic Q fever. However, there is uncertainty about the significance and cause of persistence of high IgG phase I antibody titres in patients that do not have any additional manifestations of chronic Q fever. We studied whether continued or repeated exposure to the source of infection could explain elevated IgG phase I antibody levels.MethodsA case-control study was performed to analyze predictors for possible chronic Q fever. Possible chronic Q fever cases (n = 53) are patients with phase I IgG antibody titre ≥1:1,024 at any point in the 9 - 18 months after acute Q fever diagnosis, with a negative PCR test result for C. burnetii DNA and without other disease manifestations. Controls (n = 110) are acute Q fever patients that did not develop chronic Q fever, and who consistently had phase I IgG antibody titre <1:1,024 during the 9 - 18 months follow-up. Binary logistic regression was performed to analyze the effect of living close to an infected farm on the high antibody titres. A longitudinal analysis described the serological profiles of cases and controls.ResultsProximity to infected farms and contact with animal placental material were not associated with an increased risk for possible chronic Q fever. Possible chronic Q fever patients have high IgG phase II as well as IgG phase I antibody titres, even after 48 months of follow-up.ConclusionWe were unable to explain the cause of persistent high IgG phase I titres among possible chronic Q fever patients by being continuously exposed to the source of infection.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12879-014-0629-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…C. burnetii can be shed in the urine, faeces, placental material and milk of infected animals [3]. The organism can persist in the environment in a spore-like form for several months increasing the likelihood of infection of a new host [4]. Heavy rainfall and high winds speeds have been thought to cause the spores to aerosolise facilitating air-bourne spread and infections through inhalation [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of three serological tests for the detection of Coxiella burnetii specific antibodies in European wild rabbits

et al. 2020

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Background: Coxiella burnetii causes Q fever, a zoonotic bacterial disease with a multi-host cycle and reservoirs in wild and domestic animal species. Q fever has a significant impact on the Australian public health and economy but its ecology and contributing reservoir species remain poorly understood. In Europe, rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) were identified as a major reservoir of C. burnetii and it is possible that they play a similar role in Australia. In absence of commercial kit available for rabbit, the Thermo Fisher-PrioCHECK™ Ruminant Q fever Ab Plate Kit was adapted to successfully screen rabbits population in Europe. However, this assay is not accessible in Australia and we assessed the equivalency of two commercially available kits in Australia-IDEXX-CHEKIT Q Fever Antibody ELISA kit and IDVet-ID Screen® Q Fever Indirect Multi-species with the Thermo Fisher kit (reference kit). Results: A total of 94 rabbit sera were screened by all three ELISA kits using the same confirmed positive and negative controls. While the IDEXX kit failed to agree the other two assays (concordance correlation coefficient, r b < 0.77), IDVet kit showed satisfactory equivalency with Thermo Fisher (r b = 0.927). Conclusion: IDvet kit provides the best alternative for Thermo Fisher in the detection of C. burnetii specific antibodies in rabbits in Australia. Further trials are required to confirm these preliminary results due to the low seroprevalence of Coxiella burnetii observed in the study sera.

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Influence of the Environment and Occupational Exposure on the Occurrence of Q Fever

Cited by 12 publications

References 31 publications

Analysis of seroprevalence against <i>Coxiella burnetii</i> in a sample of farm workers in Western Sicily

Analysis of seroprevalence against <i>Coxiella burnetii</i> in a sample of farm workers in Western Sicily

Persistent high antibody titres against Coxiella burnetiiafter acute Q fever not explained by continued exposure to the source of infection: a case-control study

Comparison of three serological tests for the detection of Coxiella burnetii specific antibodies in European wild rabbits

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