The Relationship of Coxiella burnetii Seropositivity Between Farm Animals and Their Owners: A Pilot Study

Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii. This study aimed to detect the relationship of C. burnetii seropositivity between farm animal owners and their animals. Blood serums of 20 farm animal owners, 32 cow and 88 sheep were investigated with indirect Immuno Fluorescent Assay (IFA) using C. burnetii phase I and II antigens. Milk samples of the same animals were tested for C. burnetii by PCR. The serological test results of animals and their owners were compared by statistically methods to reveal the interdependence and correlations. The seropositivities of IgG antibodies against C. burnetii were 90.0% for farm animal owners, 53.1% for cows and 63.6% for sheep. All of the animal owners were consuming dairy products made from their. own animals raw milk. However, as shown by PCR results, none of the tested cows and sheep were responsible for shedding of C. burnetii through their milks. Although, there was no correlation between the shedding pattern and serological results of animals, there was a significant correlation between the serological results of animals and their owners for both phase I and II antigens against C. burnetii. There are statistically important relationships between farm animals and their. owners about phase I and phase II IgG titration levels against C. burnetii. Moreover, there was close dependency between the presence of chronic C. burnetii infections in animals and their owners. On the other hand, serological results of milk samples are not in significant correlation with the serologically dependency of animals and their owners.