A seroepidemiological study of the risks of Q fever infection in Japanese veterinarians (original) (raw)

Abstract

The causative agent of Q fever, a widespread zoonotic disease, is the bacteria Coxiella burnetii. Although cases of Q fever have been documented in countries throughout the world, the prevalence of the disease in Japan is not yet known. Q fever is a demonstrated occupational hazard to those employed in zoological professions, but the risk to Japanese veterinarians has not yet been quantified. In order to evaluate the risk to Japanese veterinarians, we performed a serological survey using serum samples from 267 veterinarians. Two control groups consisting of 352 medical workers and 2003 healthy blood donors were also evaluated. The antibody titers of the serum samples were measured by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) using phase II C. burnetii Nine Mile strain as the antigen. The positive rate of IgG antibody was 13.5% in the veterinarians, which was higher than in the blood donors (3.6%, p < 0.001) and medical workers (5.1%, p < 0.001). These findings suggest that Japanese veterinarians have a higher risk of infection by C. burnetii than other members of the Japanese population. An interesting finding of this study was that positive rates of IgG and IgM antibodies in the blood donor group were higher in younger individuals. The IgM antibody positive rate was the highest in females under 30 years old.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Derrick EH. Q fever, a new fever entity: Clinical features, diagnosis and laboratory investigations. Med J Aust 1937; 2: 281–289.
    Google Scholar
  2. Hirai K, To H. Advances in the understanding of Coxiella burnetii infection in Japan. J Vet Med Sci 1998; 60: 781–790.
    Google Scholar
  3. Marrie TJ, Durant H, Williams JC, Mintz E, Waag DM. Exposure to parturient cats: A risk factor for acquisition of Q fever in Maritime Canada. J Infect Dis 1988; 158: 101–108.
    Google Scholar
  4. Fournier PE, Marrie TJ, Raoult D. Diagnosis of Q fever. J Clin Microbiol 1998; 36: 1823–1834.
    Google Scholar
  5. Nowotny N, Deutz A, Fuchs K, et al. Prevalence of swine in.uenza and other viral, bacterial, and parasitic zoonosis in veterinarians. J Infect Dis 1997; 176: 1414–1415.
    Google Scholar
  6. Htwe KK, Yoshida T, Hayashi S, et al. Prevalence of antibodies to Coxiella burnetii in Japan. J Clin Microbiol 1993; 31: 722–723.
    Google Scholar
  7. To H, Htwe KK, Yamasaki N, et al. Isolation of Coxiella burnetii from daily cattle and ticks, and some characteristics of the isolates in Japan. Microbiol Immunol 1995; 39: 663–671.
    Google Scholar
  8. Philip RN, Casper EA, Ormsbee RA, Peacock MG, Burgdorfer W. Microimmuno-.uorescence test for the serological study of Rocky mountain spotted fever and typhus. J Clin Microbiol 1976; 3: 51–61.
    Google Scholar
  9. Macellaro A, Åkesson Å, Norlander L. A survey of Q fever in Sweden. Eur J Epidemiol 1993; 9: 213–216.
    Google Scholar
  10. Marrie TJ, Pollak PT. Seroepidemiology of Q fever in Nova Scotia: Evidence for age dependent cohorts and geographical distribution. Eur J Epidemiol 1995; 11: 47–54.
    Google Scholar
  11. Pascual-Velasco F, Montes M, Marimon JM, Cilla G. High seroprevalence of Coxiella burnetii infection in Eastern Cantabria (Spain). Int J Epidemiol 1998; 27: 142–145.
    Google Scholar
  12. Kelly PJ, Matthewman LA, Mason PR, Raoult D. Q fever in Zimbabwe. A review of the disease and the results of a serosurvey of humans, cattle, goats and dogs. S Afr Med J 1993; 83: 21–25.
    Google Scholar
  13. Raoult D, Stein A. Q fever during pregnancy – a risk for women, fetuses, and obstetricians. New Engl J Med 1994; 330: 371.
    Google Scholar
  14. Téllez A, Sanz Moreno J, Valkova D, et al. Q fever in pregnancy: Case report after a 2-year follow-up. J Infect 1998; 37: 79–81.
    Google Scholar

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan
    T. Abe, K. Yamaki, T. Hayakawa, H. Fukuda, Y. Ito & H. Kume
  2. Research Center for Biologicals, The Kitasato Institute, Saitama, Japan
    T. Komiya
  3. Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan
    K. Ishihara & K. Hirai

Authors

  1. T. Abe
  2. K. Yamaki
  3. T. Hayakawa
  4. H. Fukuda
  5. Y. Ito
  6. H. Kume
  7. T. Komiya
  8. K. Ishihara
  9. K. Hirai

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Abe, T., Yamaki, K., Hayakawa, T. et al. A seroepidemiological study of the risks of Q fever infection in Japanese veterinarians.Eur J Epidemiol 17, 1029–1032 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020018907452

Download citation