Q Fever
The Q stands for “query” due to the unknown etiology of the mystery disease when it was first recognized - Mother Nature Network
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image by: Kay Foulsham
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Disease in the dust
Q fever is an Australian discovery; it was first identified in Queensland in the 1930s. Australia is also the only country in the world where a Q-fever vaccine for humans is available. Once thought to be restricted to abattoir and farm workers, Q fever has recently gained attention following an epidemic in The Netherlands in which more than 4,000 people officially contracted the disease.
Q fever is caused by infection with a bacterium known as Coxiella burnetii (C. burnetii), and people can catch it from animals such as sheep, goats and cattle by breathing in contaminated particles of fluid or dust. In The Netherlands the epidemic centred on a number of infected dairy goat farms, but…
Resources
Q Fever: a very consequential query
Q fever has recently generated a significant amount of nationwide attention with the rise of farm lobby campaigns for access to the Q fever vaccination and the development of a Q fever National Taskforce. Nonetheless, in the medical countermeasures domain, Q fever has long been of niche interest to scientific researchers.
A Query about Q fever –Answers to the Questions you should ask
When the disease was first recognized it was given the temporary name Query fever (since very little was understood about it). We now know it is caused by a bacteria called Coxiella burnetii. It is found word wide and it is estimated that 15-20% of all cattle, sheep and goats have been exposed to it. The livestock rarely show signs of illness, but it can contribute to reproductive problems such as abortions.
Q Fever: An Old but Still a Poorly Understood Disease
Although described 60 years ago, Q fever is still a poorly understood disease. Its reservoirs seem to be related to any mammal, but ticks may also be reservoirs. The clinical presentation is very pleomorphic and includes severe forms with a poor prognosis. Most often, acute cases present as asymptomatic infections, as a flu-like syndrome, as a pneumonia, or as hepatitis. Host factors probably play an important role in the development of chronic disease, which may present as a blood-culture-negative endocarditis or as an infected aneurysm. Although its exact prevalence is unknown, it is likely that the number of cases of Q fever is underestimated.
From Q Fever to Coxiella burnetii Infection: a Paradigm Change
Because Q fever is a zoonosis, with only anecdotal reports of human-to-human transmission, the epidemiology of human infections always reflects the circulation of the bacterium in animal reservoirs. The prevalence of Q fever is highly variable from one country to another, due to epidemiological disparities and whether or not the disease is reportable.
How to Manage Q Fever
Keep your livestock and yourself safe from Q fever with these management tips.
Q fever more prevalent during lambing, calving season
Researchers found that most cases of Q fever were diagnosed in spring, which correlated with the calving, lambing and kidding season.
Q Fever: Current State of Knowledge and Perspectives of Research of a Neglected Zoonosis
Q fever is an ubiquitous zoonosis caused by an resistant intracellular bacterium, Coxiella burnetii. In certain areas, Q fever can be a severe public health problem, and awareness of the disease must be promoted worldwide. Nevertheless, knowledge of Coxiella burnetii remains limited to this day.
Q fever: New push for vaccination campaign against deadly disease spread by livestock
Why is there no vaccination campaign for one of rural Australia's most debilitating and infectious diseases?
Q Fever: The Good, the Bad, and the Underreported
Most people infected with C. burnetii show no signs of disease or develop a mild illness, and the vast majority of infected people recover from Q fever, even without treatment. The bad news: About 1% of infections may become chronic and lead to life-threatening inflammation of the heart.
Q fever: the neglected biothreat agent
Q fever was first documented in abattoir workers in Queensland, Australia. The lack of a diagnosis based on vague febrile symptoms led to the illness being designated Query (Q) fever (Derrick, 1937). Although C. burnetii infection can result in outcomes from asymptomatic seroconversion to death, fever and pneumonia are the typical clinical manifestations...
Disease in the dust
Every year in Australia over 300 people are reported as suffering from a debilitating disease known as Q fever.
QFever.org
The Australian Q Fever Register stores information on the Q Fever immune status of individuals.
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety
People usually contract Q fever when they breathe in the Q fever microbe. It is very infectious. As few as ten Q fever microbes can start an infection. People can also get Q fever by drinking infected milk, and through skin contact but most infections are spread through the air. Person to person transmission occurs rarely, if ever.
Life in the Fastlane
animal encounters: sheep, goats, cattle, dogs, cats, birds, rodents and ticks occupations: farmers, laboratory workers, sheep and dairy workers and vets bacteria shed in birth products, faeces, milk and urine.
CDC
Humans are often very susceptible to the disease, and very few organisms may be required to cause infection.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
Q fever is… …an infectious disease caused by bacteria called Coxiella burnetii that affects both humans and animals. The “Q” comes from “query” fever, the name of the disease until its true cause was discovered in the 1930s. Q fever can be a mild illness or a more severe disease that can cause death.
HealthLinkBC
About half the people who get Q fever will not show any signs of the illness. Most of the time, Q fever is mistaken for an acute viral illness.
MayoClinic
Q fever is transmitted to humans by animals, most commonly sheep, goats and cattle. When you inhale barnyard dust particles contaminated by infected animals, you may become infected. High-risk occupations include farming, veterinary medicine and animal research.
MedicineNet
Q fever is an uncommon infectious disease. Animals transmit the disease to humans (this sort of infectious disease is called a zoonosis). Most often, cattle, goats, and sheep transmit Q fever, but it can also come from cats, dogs, rabbits, and other animals.
NHS
Q fever is a bacterial infection that can be spread to humans by infected animals – most commonly by sheep, cattle and goats. The infection is found worldwide, but cases in humans are rare in the UK. Around 50 cases of Q fever are reported in the UK each year.
NORD
The symptoms of Q fever can vary dramatically from one person to another. Infection can result in no apparent symptoms (asymptomatic); an acute form of disease characterized by a flu-like illness that may go away on its own (self-limited) or can cause other more serious symptoms; or a chronic, long-lasting form that can be associated with serious complications.
Patient
The disease was named as Q (for query) fever in 1937 when it was first described, "until fuller knowledge should allow a better name". It can cause acute or chronic disease in humans.
StatPearls
Q fever, an acute zoonotic febrile illness with a worldwide distribution, was discovered first in Australia in 1935 among meat workers. As a cause could not be identified, it was labeled as “Q (query) fever.” This disease has occurred as outbreaks among livestock and farm workers handling ungulates.
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