A Q Fever Outbreak with a High Rate of Abortions at a Dairy Goat Farm: Coxiella burnetii Shedding, Environmental Contamination, and Viability

Abstract

This work describes a 7-month follow-up of the excretion by different routes of Coxiella burnetii genotype SNP1/MST13 in a herd of goats that suffered high rate of abortions (81%), generating high environmental contamination. Some of the workers and visitors who accessed the farm were infected, with fever as the main symptom but a low incidence of pneumonia. The detected strain (SNP1/MST13 genotype) turned out to be very aggressive in goats. The viability of C. burnetii was demonstrated in the environment of the farm at the time of abortions, but 2 months after the last parturition, no viable bacteria were detected. These results highlighted the importance of implementing good biosafety measures at farms and avoiding the entrance of visitors to farms several months after the end of the kidding period.