Veterinärmedizinische Wissenschaft und Technologie

Q Fever: A Re-Emerging Disease?

Abstract

Mayada Gwida, Maged El-Ashker and Iahtasham Khan

Q fever is a mainly airborne zoonosis with public health concern throughout the world caused by the highly contagious, obligate intracellular bacteria Coxiella burnetii. It is an important occupational zoonosis since its discovery in 1935; it has been shown to infect a wide range of hosts, including humans. Although Q fever is a disease closely related to occupations such as handling livestock, most of the previous studies concerned with general population. A recent outbreak in Europe reminds us that this is still a significant pathogen of concern, very transmissible with a very low infectious dose. For these reasons it has also featured regularly on various threat lists, as it may be considered to be used as a bio-weapon. Therefore, we reviewed the literatures on Q fever to highlight the epidemiologic, economic and public health impact of Q fever as a basis for designing effective control strategies.