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- Outbreaks of abortions byCoxiella burnetiiin small ruminant flocks and a longitudinal serological approach on archived bulk tank milk suggest Q fever emergence in Central PortugalPublication . Cruz, Rita; Esteves, Fernando; Vasconcelos-Nóbrega, Carmen; Santos, Carla; Ferreira, Ana S.; Mega, Cristina; Coelho, Ana C.; H, Vala; Mesquita, João R.Q fever is a worldwide zoonotic infectious disease caused by Coxiella burnetii and sheep and goats are known to be the main reservoir for human infection. This study describes the epidemiological and laboratory findings of C. burnetii outbreaks affecting sheep and goat flocks and also provides the results of a prospective serosurvey in bulk tank milk samples to assess C. burnetii circulation in a population of sheep living in close contact to the human population in Central Portugal. In the epizooties, C. burnetii was identified in tissues of the resulting abortions by qPCR. As for the serological survey, 10.2% (95%CI: 4.5‐19.2) of the 78 bulk tank milk samples collected in 2015 presented IgG antibodies against C. burnetii. The same farms were visited and sampled in 2016 and 25.6% (95%CI: 16.4‐36.8) were positive. This steep increase in the number of anti‐C. burnetii farms between the 2015 and 2016 collections showed to be statistically significant (p = 0.020) and is strongly suggestive of Q fever emergence in Central Portugal. Measures on animal health and on disease spread control to the human population should be considered.
- Occupationally Acquired Q Fever in Shepherds and Sheep Milk CheesemakersPublication . Cruz, Rita; Santos, Carla; Esteves, Fernando; Ferreira, Ana Sofia; Nóbrega, Carmen; Mega, Cristina; Albuquerque, Carlos; Teixeira-de-Lemos, Edite; Coelho, Ana Cláudia; Vala, Helena; Mesquita, JoãoQ fever is a zoonosis caused byCoxiella burnetii, and transmission to humans is often associatedwith contact with ovine and caprine livestock. Those exposed to sheep are particularly at high risk of infection.Recent studies show that Q fever is increasing in sheep farms in Portugal raising alerts on spillover to humans.We detected anti-C. burnetiiIgG in shepherds and sheep milk cheesemakers (27 [28.1%] in a total of 96; 95%confidence interval [CI] 19.4–38.2%) and in controls (21 [8.1%] in a total of 260; 95% CI 5.1–12.1%), pointingto an increased risk ofC. burnetiiinfection (P= 0.0001), with an odds ratio foranti-C. burnetiiof 4.45 (95% CI2.4–8.4%;P= 0.0001), in individuals with occupational contact with sheep in Portugal.
- Prospective Serosurvey of Coxiella burnetii Antibodies in Selected Sheep of PortugalPublication . Cruz, Rita; Esteves, Fernando; Vasconcelos-Nóbrega, Carmen; Santos, Carla; Ferreira, Ana Sofia; Mega, Cristina; Coelho, Ana Claudia; H, Vala; Mesquita, JoãoQ fever is a zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii that is highly prevalent across the world. In this study, a prospective serosurvey was performed to study C. burnetii circulation in a population of sheep in the central region of Portugal. Blood from a representative sample of 168 animals was drawn in both 2015 and 2016, and sera were tested for IgG anti-C. burnetii by EIA. In 2015, 7.7% (13/168) animals tested positive for IgG anti-C. burnetii, while in 2016, 17.3% (29/168) tested positive, showing a statistically significant (P = 0.008) increase in anti-C. burnetii seroprevalence. Results support the notion that Q fever is emerging in central Portugal.