Epidemiología de la fiebre Q en rumiantes domésticos en la zona central de la Península Ibérica

Résumé

Coxiella burnetii is the aetiological agent of Q fever, a worldwide distributed zoonosiswhose main reservoirs and source of infection for humans are domestic ruminants. Themain clinical sign associated with C. burnetii infection is late-term abortion in smallruminants, and fertility problems in cattle. However, the impact of Q fever in animalproduction has been traditionally considered limited since infection is more commonlyunapparent. Still, its ability to cause important clinical outbreaks has become evident inthe last years, so that nowadays it is considered one of the main causes of abortion indomestic ruminants. Infected animals may excrete high amounts of bacteria during theabortion/parturition, contaminating the environment and potentially leading to newinfections in susceptible individuals. The control of C. burnetii is difficult due to its lowinfective dose, its high environmental resistance and the potential for airbornetransmission events over long distances when conditions are favorable. In fact, airbornetransmission due to inhalation of contaminated aerosols is considered the main route ofinfection in humans.In humans, C. burnetii infection is also normally silent (in about 60% of the cases).However, in a proportion of causes it may cause acute and chronic infections that, inoccasions, may be highly incapacitating. Moreover, in certain cases the complication ofclinical signs may be fatal. These characteristics, together with the increasing number ofreported cases during the last decade (both sporadic as well as part of outbreaks affectingthousands of people, generally associated to domestic ruminants) have revealed thepotential clinical consequences this traditionally neglected disease can have in publichealth. Nevertheless, there are numerous knowledge gaps in several relevant clinical andepidemiological aspects of the disease...