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One Health approach to controlling a Q fever outbreak on an Australian goat farm
journal contribution
posted on 2016-04-01, 00:00 authored by K A Bond, G Vincent, C R Wilks, L Franklin, B Sutton, J Stenos, Raquel CowanRaquel Cowan, K Lim, Eugene AthanEugene Athan, O Harris, L Macfarlane-Berry, Y Segal, S M FirestoneSUMMARYA recent outbreak of Q fever was linked to an intensive goat and sheep dairy farm in Victoria, Australia, 2012-2014. Seventeen employees and one family member were confirmed with Q fever over a 28-month period, including two culture-positive cases. The outbreak investigation and management involved a One Health approach with representation from human, animal, environmental and public health. Seroprevalence in non-pregnant milking goats was 15% [95% confidence interval (CI) 7–27]; active infection was confirmed by positive quantitative PCR on several animal specimens. Genotyping ofCoxiella burnetiiDNA obtained from goat and human specimens was identical by two typing methods. A number of farming practices probably contributed to the outbreak, with similar precipitating factors to the Netherlands outbreak, 2007-2012. Compared to workers in a high-efficiency particulate arrestance (HEPA) filtered factory, administrative staff in an unfiltered adjoining office and those regularly handling goats and kids had 5·49 (95% CI 1·29–23·4) and 5·65 (95% CI 1·09–29·3) times the risk of infection, respectively; suggesting factory workers were protected from windborne spread of organisms. Reduction in the incidence of human cases was achieved through an intensive human vaccination programme plus environmental and biosecurity interventions. Subsequent non-occupational acquisition of Q fever in the spouse of an employee, indicates that infection remains endemic in the goat herd, and remains a challenge to manage without source control.
History
Journal
Epidemiology and InfectionVolume
144Issue
6Pagination
1129 - 1141Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESSLocation
EnglandPublisher DOI
ISSN
0950-2688eISSN
1469-4409Language
EnglishPublication classification
C Journal article; C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2015, Cambridge University PressUsage metrics
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