Q fever in cattle in some Egyptian Governorates: a preliminary study

BACKGROUND: Q fever, caused by Coxiella burnetii, is a zoonosis with great public health significance and can cause financial losses to animal owners. The knowledge of the epidemiology of Q fever in Egypt is limited. Reports on this disease are scarce. In 2012 and 2013, we carried out this investigation to estimate the seroprevalence of antibodies to Coxiella burnetii in dairy cows of nine farms located in the lower Egyptian Governorates of Dakahlia, Damietta and Port Said. 1,194 blood sera were randomly collected from apparently healthy Holstein Friesian dairy cows. The collected sera were tested by ELISA for Coxiella burnetii antibodies. RESULTS: All farms tested positive with seroprevalences ranging from 2.9 to 26.7% on farms with less than 200 animals and 9.8 to 20.0% in farms with more than 500 animals. 158 cows (13.2%) had anti-Coxiella antibodies. CONCLUSION: Q fever may be enzootic in the cattle herds investigated in Damietta, Port Said, and Dakahlia Governorates of the Nile delta in both smaller and larger herds. There is a need for further research on the impact of Q fever on both veterinary and public health. The results of this study should trigger more detailed epidemiological studies in ruminants as well as investigations into the etiology of atypical pneumonia and fever of unknown origin in humans.