A systematic review of global Q fever outbreaks

Methodological rigour and reporting quality of the literature on wildlife rescue, rehabilitation, and release: a global systematic review

Wildlife rescue, rehabilitation, and release is a global practice with a broad body of scientific literature; nonetheless, no studies have assessed and quantified the methodological rigour and reporting quality of this literature. In this PRISMA systematic review, we assessed and quantified the reporting of controls, randomisation, blinding, experimental animal data, and housing and husbandry data in 152 primary studies on wildlife rescue, rehabilitation, and release published between 1980 and 2021. We then tested for associations between reporting and study characteristics. Of the 152 reviewed studies, one study reported a control, randomisation, and blinding; 17 studies reported species, age, sex, weight, and body condition; and 14 studies reported housing size, housing location, type of food, provision of water, and provision of enrichment. No study reported all 13 of these elements. Studies published in veterinary-focused journals reported lower methodological rigour and had lower reporting quality than studies published in other types of journals. Studies on mammals had higher reporting quality than studies on birds and on reptiles, and studies that included the word "welfare" had higher reporting quality than studies that did not. The overall low methodological rigour and reporting quality of the literature limits study replicability and applicability and impedes meta-analyses.

Q Fever-Related Community Infections: United States Exposure to Coxiella burnetii

Coxiella burnetii is a significant infectious pathogen that causes Q fever. Q fever is thought to be uncommon in the US and most human cases are believed to occur in agricultural livestock workers. However, the extent of US community exposure to C. burnetii is not known with certainty. Using nationally representative 2003-2004 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey serologic, demographic, and occupational history data, the magnitude of US adult general population exposure to C. burnetii, excluding agricultural-sector workers, was estimated. Exposure was defined as positive serum IgG antibodies in an immunofluorescence assay (e.g., current or past infection). A total of 3.0% (95% CI: 2.0-4.4) of the US population met the criteria for C. burnetii exposure, representing some 6.2 million persons. Overall, 86.9% (95% CI: 75.5-98.4) of the seropositive persons had no lifetime history of work in the agricultural sector (5.5 million persons). This was consistently true across all US demographic groups: aged 20-59 years, 87.3%; aged 60+ years, 85.7%; men, 86.1%; women, 87.6%; non-Hispanic Whites, 82%; non-Hispanic Blacks, 95.8%; Mexican Americans, 89.4%; immigrants from Mexico, 83.5%; and other immigrants, 96.8%. As a proportion of C. burnetii infections result in acute Q fever and chronic Q fever conveys significant mortality, the community-level risks to the general public may be significant. It is recommended that a 6-year sample of the most recent NHANES stored sera be analyzed to determine the current community C. burnetii exposure rates. Also, analyzing an additional 2005-2008 stored sera sample would provide an opportunity to assess the time trends and long-term health impacts.

Characterising the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Australian veterinarians regarding Q fever and the diagnosis and reporting of coxiellosis

Q fever is a serious zoonotic disease that readily transmits from animals to humans. Infection in animals is known as coxiellosis. Veterinarians are in a key position to provide early detection of coxiellosis in animals that can aid the prevention or recognition of human cases. However, there is little information available about veterinary ability and willingness to diagnose and report this disease in animals. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of veterinarians regarding coxiellosis. An online survey was performed that targeted veterinarians in Australia from 2020 to 2021 and 122 responses were obtained. Results showed that veterinarians report a moderate amount of knowledge about Q fever in humans but an overwhelming lack of confidence around recognising and diagnosing the disease in animals with 70-80 % of respondents reporting that they were 'not at all confident' or 'not very confident'. Most respondents (68 %) believed that coxiellosis was an important infection in animals because of its human health consequences and 84 % would report the infection if it were diagnosed. Barriers to diagnosis and reporting identified in this study include disease unfamiliarity, perception of disease insignificance, and futility of disease identification if there are no effective strategies in place for using diagnosis and notification of coxiellosis in controlling infection. Despite a deficit of self-reported knowledge and confidence regarding the diagnosis of coxiellosis, Australian veterinarians consider it to be an important zoonotic disease with implications for human health and are willing to collaborate with human health colleagues in a One Health approach around this issue.

A first insight into seropositivity and risk factors for Brucella spp. and Coxiella burnetii in free-roaming dogs in Ecuador

Brucellosis and Q fever are two bacterial zoonoses caused by Brucella spp. and Coxiella burnetii, respectively. Dogs are reservoirs of these pathogens and play an important role in their spread. In this research, we determined the seroprevalence of antibodies against Brucella spp. and C. burnetii in free-roaming dogs from Ecuador and conducted a statistical analysis based on geographical variables. Serum samples were collected from 397 free-roaming dogs between November 2018 and May 2019 and analyzed with commercial ELISA tests for Brucella spp. and Q fever. An overall seroprevalence of 2.8 % (CI: 95 %, 0.0-6.2 %) and 1.8 % (CI: 95 %, 0.0-5.6 %) was found for Brucella spp. and C. burnetii, respectively. No statistical differences in seroprevalence values were found between geographical regions in Ecuador or between dogs from rural or urban settings, except for the association of C. burnetii infection with the Coastal Region. This is the first study of this kind in Ecuador and points out the need for a One Health approach for control and surveillance of zoonotic diseases like brucellosis and Q fever including feral and stray dogs as reservoirs to spread those pathogens to cattle, humans, or wildlife.

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The European Union One Health 2023 Zoonoses report

This report by the European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control presents the results of zoonoses monitoring and surveillance activities carried out in 2023 in 27 Member States (MSs), the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) and 10 non-MSs. Key statistics on zoonoses and zoonotic agents in humans, food, animals and feed are provided and interpreted historically. In 2023, the first and second most reported zoonoses in humans were campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis, respectively. For both agents, an increase in the absolute number of cases was observed in comparison with 2022. Fifteen MSs and the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) reached all the established targets in poultry populations with regard to the reduction in Salmonella prevalence for the relevant serovars. Salmonella samples from carcases of various animal species, and samples for Campylobacter quantification from broiler carcases, were more frequently positive when performed by the competent authorities than when own-checks were conducted. Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) was the third most reported zoonotic agent in humans, followed by Yersinia enterocolitica and Listeria monocytogenes. L. monocytogenes and West Nile virus infections were the most severe zoonotic diseases, with the highest percentage of hospitalisations among cases and the highest case fatality rates. Twenty-seven MSs and the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) reported a slight decrease in food-borne outbreaks in 2023 overall in comparison with 2022, although the overall number of reported human cases and hospitalisations increased. Salmonella Enteritidis remained the most frequently reported causative agent for reported cases and food-borne outbreaks. Salmonella in 'eggs and egg products' was the agent/food pair of most concern. In 2023 this combination caused the largest number of outbreaks and cases among all agent/food combination and ranked second in number of hospitalisations. Salmonella was also the causative agent associated with the majority of multi-country outbreaks reported in the EU in 2023. This report also provides updates on brucellosis, echinococcosis, Q fever, rabies, toxoplasmosis, trichinellosis, tuberculosis due to Mycobacterium bovis or M. caprae, and tularaemia.

Molecular and genotyping techniques in diagnosis of Coxiella burnetii: An overview

Although we live in the genomic era, the accessibility of the complete genome sequence of Coxiella burnetii, the etiological agent of Q fever, has increased knowledge in the field of genomic diversity of this agent However, it is still somewhat of a "question" microorganism. The epidemiology of Q fever is intricate due to its global distribution, repository and vector variety, as well as absence of surveys defining the dynamic interaction among these factors. Moreover, C. burnetii is a microbial agent that can be utilized as a bioterror weapon. Therefore, typing techniques used to recognize the strains can also be used to trace infections back to their source which is of great significance. In this paper, the latest and current typing techniques of C. burnetii spp. are reviewed illustrating their advantages and constraints. Recently developed multi locus VNTR analysis (MLVA) and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) typing methods are promising in improving diagnostic capacity and enhancing the application of genotyping techniques for molecular epidemiologic surveys of the challenging pathogen. However, most of these studies did not differentiate between C. burnetii and Coxiella-like endosymbionts making it difficult to estimate the potential role that ticks play in the epidemiology of Q fever. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the vector competence of different tick species to transmit C. burnetii. Knowledge of the vector and reservoir competence of ticks is important for taking adequate preventive measures to limit infection risks. The significant prevalence observed for the IS1111 gene underscores its substantial presence, while other genes display comparatively lower prevalence rates. Methodological variations, particularly between commercial and non-commercial kit-based methods, result in different prevalence outcomes. Variations in sample processing procedures also lead to significant differences in prevalence rates between mechanical and non-mechanical techniques.