Q Fever Serological Survey and Associated Risk Factors in Veterinarians, Southern Belgium, 2013

Coxiella burnetii; Q fever; Southern Belgium; Article; Belgium; Animals; Antibodies, Bacterial; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Livestock; Occupational Exposure; Risk Factors; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; Veterinarians; Zoonoses

Abstract :

[en] A sero-epidemiological survey was organized among veterinarians working in Southern Belgium to estimate the seroprevalence of Q fever and the risk factors associated with exposure. A total of 108 veterinarians took part to this cross-sectional study, with a majority practicing with livestock animals. The overall seroprevalence was 45.4%, but it increased to 58.3% among veterinarians having contact with livestock. Three main serological profiles were detected (relatively recent, past and potentially chronic infections). The contact with manure during the prior month was the risk factor associated with seropositivity after multivariate logistic regression analysis. Classification and regression tree analysis identified the age as the most predictive variable to exclude potentially chronic infection in apparently healthy seropositive veterinarians. In conclusion, livestock veterinarians practicing in Southern Belgium are highly exposed to Q fever, a neglected zoonosis for which serological and medical examinations should be envisaged in at risk groups. © 2016 Blackwell Verlag GmbH

Disciplines :

Veterinary medicine & animal health

Author, co-author :

Dal Pozzo, Fabiana ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des maladies infectieuses et parasitaires (DMI) > Epidémiologie et analyse des risques appl. aux sc. vétér.

Martinelle, Ludovic ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Station ferme expérimentale (CARE)

Léonard, Philippe ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences cliniques > Département des sciences cliniques

Renaville, Bénédicte

Renaville, Robert ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Agronomie, Bio-ingénierie et Chimie (AgroBioChem) > Microbial, food and biobased technologies

Thys, C.; University of Liege, Liege, Belgium

Smeets, F.; University of Liege, Liege, Belgium

Czaplicki, G.; Association Régionale de Santé et d'Identification Animales (ARSIA), Ciney, Belgium

Van Esbroeck, M.; Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium

Saegerman, Claude ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des maladies infectieuses et parasitaires (DMI) > Epidémiologie et analyse des risques appl. aux sc. vétér.

Language :

English

Title :

Q Fever Serological Survey and Associated Risk Factors in Veterinarians, Southern Belgium, 2013

Publication date :

2017

Journal title :

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases

ISSN :

1865-1674

eISSN :

1865-1682

Publisher :

Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Volume :

Issue :

Pages :

959-966

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Available on ORBi :

since 10 April 2018

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