Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T04:31:28.476Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Q Fever Control Measures: Recommendations for Research Facilities Using Sheep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Kenneth W. Bernard*
Affiliation:
Viral Diseases Division, Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Georgia
Gregory L. Parham
Affiliation:
Viral Diseases Division, Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Georgia
William G. Winkler
Affiliation:
Viral Diseases Division, Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Georgia
Charles G. Helmick
Affiliation:
Viral Diseases Division, Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Georgia
*
Viral Diseases Division, Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control, 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30333

Abstract

Q fever (Query Fever) is a zoonosis caused by the rickettsia Coxiella burnetii. Domestic ungulates such as sheep, cattle, and goats serve as the reservoir of infection for humans and shed the desiccation-resistant organism in urine, feces, milk, and especially in birth products. In humans the illness is generally mild; however, Q fever hepatitis is often seen and Q fever endocarditis is an uncommon, but frequently fatal complication. Q fever long has been recognized as an occupational hazard among persons working with animals or animal products, and in laboratories working with C. burnetii. Recently, Q fever outbreaks have occurred in medical research facilities using sheep as research animals. Recommendations are presented for reducing the risk of exposure to Q fever in persons not working with sheep in research facilities that use sheep. In addition, recommendations are presented for reducing the risk of infection in persons who work with sheep in research facilities.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Derrick, EH: Q fever, a new fever entity: Clinical features and laboratory investigation. Med J Aust 1937;2:281299.Google Scholar
2. Babudieri, B: Q fever: A zoonosis. Advances in Veterinary Science 1959;5:82182.Google Scholar
3. Willeberg, P, Ruppanner, R, Behymer, DE, et al: Environmental exposure to Coxiella burnetii: A sero-epidemiologic survey among domestic animals. Am J Epidemiol 1980;111:437443.Google Scholar
4. Kaplan, MM, Bertagna, P: The geographical distribution of Qfever. Bull WHO 1955;13:829860.Google Scholar
5. Lennette, EH, Clark, WH, Dean, BH: Sheep and goats in the epidemiology of Qfever in Northern California. American Journal of Tropical Medicine 1949;29:527541.Google Scholar
6. Welsh, HW, Lennette, EH, Abinanti, FR, et al: Qfever in California. IV. Occurrence of Coxiella burnetii in the placenta of naturally infected sheep. Public Health Rep 1951;66:14731477.Google Scholar
7. Winn, JF, Lennette, EH, Welsh, HH, et al: Q fever studies. XVII. Presence of Coxiella burnetii in the feces of naturally infected sheep. American Journal of Hygiene 1953;58:183187.Google Scholar
8. Krumbiegel, ER, Wisniewski, HJ: Q fever in Milwaukee. II. Consumption of infected raw milk by human volunteers. Arch Environ Health 1970;21:6365.Google Scholar
9. Leedom, JM: Q fever, in Eichoff, TC (ed): Practice of Medicine, ed 3. New York, Harper and Row, 1978, vol 3, pp 119.Google Scholar
10. Abinanti, FR, Lennette, EH, Winn, JF, et al: Q fever studies. XVIII. Presence of Coxiella burnetii in the birth fluid of naturally infected sheep. American Journal of Hygiene 1953;58:385388.Google Scholar
11. Welsh, HW, Lennette, EH, Abinanti, FR, et al: Air-borne transmission of Q fever: The role of parturition in the generation of infective aerosols. Ann NY Acad Sci 1958;70:528540.Google Scholar
12. Hart, RJC: The epidemiology of Q fever. Postgrad Med J 1973;49:535538.Google Scholar
13. Stoenner, HE: Occupational hazards of Qfever. Industrial Medicine and Surgery May 1964, pp 296300.Google Scholar
14. Ormsbee, RA: Q fever rickettsia, in Horsfall, F, Tamm, I (eds): Viral and Rickettsial Infections of Man, ed 4. Philadelphia, JB Lippincott Co, 1965, pp 11441160.Google Scholar
15. Welsh, HH, Lennette, EH, Abinanti, FR, et al: Q fever studies. XXI. The recovery of Coxiella burnetii from soil and surface water of premises harboring infected sheep. American Journal of Hygiene 1959;70:1420.Google Scholar
16. DeLay, PD, Lennette, EH, DeOme, KB: Q fever in California. II. Recovery of Coxiella burnetii from naturally infected airborne dust. J Immunol 1950;65:211220.Google Scholar
17. Tigertt, WD, Benenson, AS, Gochenour, WS: Airborne Q fever. Bacteriology Review 1961;25:285293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18. Warren, JW, Hornick, RB: Coxiella burnetii (Q fever), in Mandeli, GL, Douglas, RG Jr, JE, Bennett (eds): Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. New York, John Wiley & Sons, 1980, pp 15161520.Google Scholar
19. Turck, WPG, Wowitt, G, Turnberg, LA, et al: Chronic Q fever. QJ Med 1976;45:193217.Google Scholar
20. Dupont, HL, Hornick, RB, Levin, HS, et al: Q fever hepatitis. Ann Intern Med 1971;74:198206.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21. Derrick, EH: The course of infection with Coxiella burnetii . Med J Aust 1973;1:10511057.Google Scholar
22. Leedom, JM: Q fever: An update, in Remmington, JS, Swartz, MN (eds): Current Clinical Topics in Infectious Diseases. New York, McGraw Hill Book Co, 1980, pp 304331.Google Scholar
23. Varma, MPS, Adgey, AAJ, Connolly, JH: Chronic Q fever endocarditis. Br Heart J 1980;43:695699.Google Scholar
24. Kimbrough, RC III, Ormsbee, RA, Peacock, M, et al: Q fever endocarditis in the United States. Ann Intern Med 1979;91:400402.Google Scholar
25. Fiset, P, Wisseman, CL, El Batawi, Y: Immunologic evidence of human fetal infection with Coxiella burnetii . Am J Epidemiol 1975;101:6569.Google Scholar
26. Dyer, RE: A filter passing infectious agent isolated from ticks. IV. Human infection. Public Health Rep 1938;53:22772282.Google Scholar
27. Huebner, RJ: Report of an outbreak of Q fever at the National Institute of Health. II. Epidemiological features. Am J Public Health. 1947;37:431440.Google Scholar
28. Johnson, JE, Kadull, PJ: Laboratory-acquired Q fever: A report of fifty cases. Am J Med 1966;41:391403.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
29. Schacter, J, Sung, M, Meyer, KF: Potential danger of Q fever in a university hospital environment. J Infect Dis 1971;123:301304.Google Scholar
30. Curet, LB, Paust, JC: Transmission of a fever from experimental sheep to laboratory personnel. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1972;114:566569.Google Scholar
31. Meiklejohn, G, Reimer, LG, Graves, PS, et al: Cryptic epidemic of Q fever in a medical school. J Infect Dis 1981;144:107113.Google Scholar
32. California Department of Health Services: Q fever at a university research center – California. California Morbidity Weekly Report 1979;23:1.Google Scholar
33. Spinelli, JS, Ascher, MS, Brooks, DL, et al: Q fever crisis in San Francisco. Controlling a sheep zoonosis in a lab animal facility. Lab Anim 1981;15:2427.Google Scholar
34. Enright, JB, Franti, CE, Longhurst, WM, et al: Coxiella burnetii in a wildlife-livestock environment: Antibody response of ewes and lambs in an endemic Q fever area. Am J Epidemiol 1971;94:6271.Google Scholar
35. Enright, JB, Longhurst, WM, Franti, CE, et al: Coxiella burnetii in a wildlife-livestock environment: Isolation of rickettsiae from sheep and cattle. Am J Epidemiol 1971;94:7278.Google Scholar
36. Sadecky, E, Brezina, R: Vaccination of naturally infected ewes against Q fever. Acta Virol 1977;21:89.Google Scholar
37. Fiset, P: Vaccination against Q fever, in First International Conference Vaccines against Viral Rickettsial Diseases in Man. Washington, Pan American Health Organization, 1967, Scientific Publication No. 147, p 528.Google Scholar
38. Peacock, MG, Fiset, P, Ormsbee, RA, et al: Antibody response in man following a small intradermal inoculation with Coxiella burnetii phase I vaccine. Acta Virol 1979;23:7381.Google Scholar
39. Abinanti, FR, Welsh, HH, Lennette, EH, et al: Q fever studies. XVI. Some aspects of the experimental infection induced in sheep by the intratracheal route of inoculation. American Journal of Hygiene 1953;57:170184.Google Scholar
40. Malloch, RA, Stoker, MGP: Studies on the susceptibility of Rickettsia burnetii to chemical disinfectants, and on techniques for detecting small numbers organisms. J Hyg 1952;50:502524.Google Scholar
41. Centers for Disease Control: Proposed Biosafety Guidelines for Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories. Atlanta, Centers for Disease Control, September 1980.Google Scholar