Q Fever: Seroprevalence, Risk Factors in Slaughter Livestock and Genotypes of Coxiella burnetii in South Africa

Q fever is a neglected zoonosis in South Africa, causing significant losses in livestock and game animals through reproductive disorders. However, there are limited studies on the extent of infections in livestock in South Africa. Further, there is also lack of knowledge about the types of strains that are currently circulating in the country. Therefore, a cross-sectional, abattoir-based study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of and associated risk factors, and to characterize strains from slaughter livestock at red meat abattoirs in Gauteng, South Africa. Of the 507 animals tested, 6.9% (95% CI: 4.9-9.5%) were positive for antibodies against . The seroprevalence was 9.4% (31/331) in cattle, 4.3% (3/69) in sheep, and 0.9% (1/107) in pigs. Out of the 63 tissue samples from 35 seropositive animals including material from two sheep aborted fetuses from Mangaung district (Free State province), 12.7% (8/63) tested positive by IS PCR. Genotyping of the eight PCR-positive tissues from eight animals by MLVA revealed two novel genotypes, not available in MLVA databases. It is concluded that slaughter animals pose a risk of exposing abattoir and farm workers to in South Africa.