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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Infectious Diseases
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1426573

Longitudinal surveillance of Coxiella burnetii following an abortion storm in domestic goats.

Provisionally accepted
Halie K. Miller Halie K. Miller *Rachael A. Priestley Rachael A. Priestley Cody Smith Cody Smith Cara Cherry Cara Cherry Gilbert J. Kersh Gilbert J. Kersh
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Q fever is a disease caused by Coxiella burnetii, which can cause serious illness in humans and abortions in goats. A Q fever outbreak amongst an unvaccinated goat herd led to 65% loss of the kid crop in spring 2018. To assess the impact of the outbreak on the herd and environment, longitudinal surveillance of the ranch was conducted across three samplings, September 2018, April 2019, and May 2022. Antibodies against C. burnetii were monitored by indirect immunofluorescence assay. Shedding was monitored through analysis of vaginal/fecal swabs and milk. Environmental swabs and bulk soil were collected from various locations around the ranch. Animal and environmental samples were analyzed for C. burnetii DNA by PCR. Herdlevel seroprevalence decreased from 89% in 2018 to 84.3% in 2019, and 64.5% in 2022.Overall herd shedding was 14.4% in 2018, 7.4% in 2019, and 6.7% in 2022. The percentage of C. burnetii positive environmental samples was 83.7% in 2018, 51.7% in 2019, and 28.6% in 2022. Serological evidence suggests that new infections were occurring in the herd four years post-abortion storm. This study demonstrates the presence of C. burnetii shedding and environmental contamination on a goat operation at least four kidding seasons after an outbreak. A better understanding of management practices that can improve outcomes for infected herds, particularly in areas without access to vaccines against C. burnetii, is needed to better protect operators and the public.

    Keywords: Coxiellosis, One Health, Q Fever, zoonosis, Livestock

    Received: 01 May 2024; Accepted: 26 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Miller, Priestley, Smith, Cherry and Kersh. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Halie K. Miller, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.