Spread of Q fever in Bulgaria and risk assessment for animal health and public health in 2023

Abstract

Q fever, first described among slaughterhouse staff in Australia in 1937, is now recognized as an endemic disease throughout the world, except New Zealand. Since this first description, knowledge of this pathogen and its associated infections has increased dramatically. From the public health point of view and economic consequences, Q fever is a zoonotic disease of high public importance, the etiological agent of which, Coxiella burnetii, is included in group B of the list of potential biological weapons of the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE). The 14 positive cases of Q fever in humans in the Gabrovo Region (including 4 veterinarians and staff working on the farms) and the positive herds found in three cow farms and one sheep farm also raised concern. For this reason, it is important to recall the importance of this disease and the risks it poses to human and animal health, as well as to outline the necessary measures for surveillance and prevention of new cases. In relation with the detected positive cases of Q fever in humans (among them, farm owners and staff, veterinarians) and positive herds of large and small ruminants in the last five years in a number of regions of Bulgaria, we tracked and analyzed the spread of Coxiella burnetii and the possibilities for the control and eradication of the Q fever disease, as well as with the aim of establishing the trends in the prevalence of the disease and especially the relationship between the morbidity in humans and animals.