Seroprevalence and Risk Factors for Coxiella burnetii (Q Fever) Seropositivity in Dairy Goat Farmers’ Households

Community Q fever epidemics occurred in the Netherlands in 2007–2009, with dairy goat and dairy sheep farms as the implicated source. The aim of the study was to determine the seroprevalence and risk factors for seropositivity in dairy goat farmers and their household members living or working on these farms. Sera of 268 people living or working on 111 dairy goat farms were tested for Coxiella burnetii IgG and IgM antibodies using immunofluorescence assay. Seroprevalences in farmers, spouses and children (12–17 years) were 73.5%, 66.7%, and 57.1%, respectively. Risk factors for seropositivity were: performing three or more daily goat-related tasks, farm location in the two southern provinces of the country, proximity to bulk milk-positive farms, distance from the nearest stable to residence of 10 meters or less, presence of cats and multiple goat breeds in the stable, covering stable air spaces and staff not wearing farm boots. Goat farmers have a high risk to acquire this occupational infection. Clinicians should consider Q fever in this population presenting with compatible symptoms to allow timely diagnosis and treatment to prevent severe sequelae. Based on the risk factors identified, strengthening general biosecurity measures is recommended such as consistently wearing boots and protective clothing by farm staff to avoid indirect transmission and avoiding access of companion animals in the goat stable. Furthermore, it provides an evidence base for continuation of the current vaccination policy for small ruminants, preventing spread from contaminated farms to other farms in the vicinity. Finally, vaccination of seronegative farmers and household members could be considered. Citation: Schimmer B, Lenferink A, Schneeberger P, Aangenend H, Vellema P, et al. (2012) Seroprevalence and Risk Factors for Coxiella burnetii (Q Fever) Seropositivity in Dairy Goat Farmers’ Households in The Netherlands, 2009–2010. PLoS ONE 7(7): e42364. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0042364 Editor: Dario S. Zamboni, University of São Paulo, Brazil Received March 23, 2012; Accepted July 4, 2012; Published July 27, 2012 Copyright: 2012 Schimmer et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: The study was funded by the Netherlands organisation for health research and development, and co-financed by the Ministery of Public Health and the Ministry of Agriculture. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * E-mail: [email protected]