Transcript Washington State Departments of Agriculture and Health

Washington State Department of Agriculture
Washington State University
Grant County Health District
Q Fever
 Q fever is a rare bacterial infection in people around
the world caused by Coxiella burnetii
 Q fever spills over to people, from infected animals/
environment, through inhalation
 The bacteria can cause a sudden onset of:
 high fever
 often with night sweats
 headache and
 flu-like symptoms that usually last for at least a week
Q fever in Washington, 2011
 Discovered because Producer wanted to know the source
of abortions in goat herd (April 2011)
 Q fever diagnosed because placenta was sent to WSU by
local Veterinarian
 Producer assisted with tracing herd sales in WA and MT
 Grant County Health District sent an alert to medical
providers
2011 Washington State Study
 Goats were tested from 13 farms in 7 counties:
 Adams, Chelan, Clark, Franklin, Grant, Pend Oreille &
Thurston
 The following samples were collected by WSDA, USDA and CDC
veterinarians:
 326 Blood samples
 312 Vaginal swabs
 108 Fecal swabs
 37 Milk samples
 Environmental samples were taken from a few farms
 Humans: 61 samples were collected from Producers and
Agriculture personnel
Lab testing for Q fever
 Serology – CF or ELISA

Detects antibodies produced against bacteria
 LIVE bugs?- grow the bacteria (culture) at CDC
 PCR = polymerase chain reaction

Detects and amplifies the bacteria (LIVE or DEAD)
Results From All Washington Farms
 PEOPLE:
 11 / 61 (18%) had positive serum samples
 7 / 11 (64%) people were sick
 4 / 11 (36%) people were not sick
 GOATS:
 All whole blood samples were PCR negative
 Only 8% of 326 goats were ELISA positive
 Only 10% of 108 fecal swabs (males) were PCR positive
 31% of 312 vaginal swabs were PCR positive
 All 19 positive milk samples were from one non-milk
producing farm
Farm Links
 3 positive does on one farm were not from Farm A
 One of those positives had never been off of the farm
 Does bred at Farm A were ELISA and PCR negative
 Q fever is ubiquitous, so positive animals should be
found throughout the state
 WSU conducting study of goats around WA
Environmental Results
 Environmental testing was based on a quantitative PCR
assay targeted to a specific gene (IS1111).
 PCR assay does not determine viability
 Positive scale in genomes / gram:
 Low: <= 10 (normal background)
 Moderate: >10 – 1,000
 Strong: > 1,000 – 100,000
 Extremely strong: >100,000
 The farms with the highest level of shedding among their
goats had the highest genomes/gram in the environment
Environmental Results
 CDC isolated live Coxiella burnetii from the WA goat
placenta and a vaginal swab taken from a Montana
goat.
 The 2 isolates and a WA environmental sample are in
the same genetic group (sequence type 8).
 Sequence type 8 was previously seen in a chronic
human Q fever case in Washington State with no
connection to goats.
 Sequence type 8 has also been found in several other
goats and chronic human cases in the US.
Presence of Coxiella burnetii DNA in the
Environment of the United States, 2006 to 2008
http://aem.asm.org/content/76/13/4469.full.pdf+html
 CDC found Q fever bacteria in environmental samples
from post offices, stores, schools, farms, dairies and
fairgrounds
 Rocky Mountains- 45%
 South Central – 36%
 Upper Midwest – 25%
 Deep South – 16%
 West Coast – 14%
 East Coast – 6%
 Some areas had up to 50% positive samples
Best Practices to Control Q Fever
 National seroprevalence:
 10% in cattle
 15-20% in sheep
 25-35% in goats
 No real good numbers.
When/where is the most risk ?
 2 weeks prior to one month after birth
 Lactation
 Abortions
 Placentas
 Birth fluids
 Kidding/lambing/calving barns
When/where is the most risk?
• The highest risk is due to contact with birth products such as
placentas, birth fluids, etc.
•
•
•
•
Use disposable gloves
Barn only clothes
Mask to reduce airborne bacteria in dust
Remove any dead fetuses and placentas as soon as you can in plastic
bags and burn or bury at least 3 feet
• Compost and spread on fields
• Risk of selling manure
• Immediately clean birthing areas then apply 10% Bleach, 5%
Hydrogen Peroxide, or 1% Lysol
• 30 minute contact time
• Keep down dust
Farm Biosecurity
 Limit access for visitors
 People with high risk to contract it are immune
compromised, pregnant women, and heart valve
patients.
 Wash hands and arms after animal contact
 Keep barn clothes out of the house
 Clean and disinfect boots
Farm Biosecurity
 Maintain good records of animal movements
 If your animal aborts, contact local veterinarian
and save everything you can, especially placenta,
for diagnostic evaluation
 Culling of animals based on blood tests is not
recommended and won’t ensure a negative herd.
Resources
 Many links on our website www.agr.wa.gov
 Sublinks to CDC and university websites on:
 Composting
Manure and animals
 Disinfection
 Basics of different products and what they will work on
 Boot cleaning
 Hand washing

Conclusion
 Q fever is everywhere.
 Individual animal serum test of little value.
 Q fever can not be traced to any one source with any
reliability.
 All farms had multiple sources of animals or bred
animals at multiple farms.
 The number of antibody positive animals in this
investigation (8%) was lower than that of previous
studies.
Acknowledgements
 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
 Center for Food Security and Public Health at Iowa
State University
 USDA- veterinarians and laboratorians
 WSU- Field Disease Investigative Unit and Lab
 All local county health jurisdictions