Shedding light on risk: Seroprevalence of Q fever among farm animals and workers in Ecuador
Q fever, caused by the bacterium Coxiella burnetii, is a zoonotic disease that has been largely overlooked despite presenting significant risks to both animal and public health. Although well studied in some countries, in most countries in Latin America, there's a lack of information on C. burnetii...
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| Format: | Artículo |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/21864 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352771424002659 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2024.100939 |
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| author | Guerrero-Freire, Mónica Salomé Ledesma, Yanua Echeverria, Gustavo Blanco, Federico Carlos Waard, Jacobus H. de |
| author_browse | Blanco, Federico Carlos Echeverria, Gustavo Guerrero-Freire, Mónica Salomé Ledesma, Yanua Waard, Jacobus H. de |
| author_facet | Guerrero-Freire, Mónica Salomé Ledesma, Yanua Echeverria, Gustavo Blanco, Federico Carlos Waard, Jacobus H. de |
| author_sort | Guerrero-Freire, Mónica Salomé |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| description | Q fever, caused by the bacterium Coxiella burnetii, is a zoonotic disease that has been largely overlooked despite presenting significant risks to both animal and public health. Although well studied in some countries, in most countries in Latin America, there's a lack of information on C. burnetii infection, its prevalence, and its impact on both livestock and human populations. To address this gap, we conducted a serosurvey among farm workers, cattle, sheep, and dogs on two dairy farms in Ecuador using a commercial ELISA kit. Additionally, we conducted a case-control study in cattle to investigate the association between C. burnetii infection and abortion. The findings revealed that 18 % of farm workers, 30 % of dogs, 25 % of cattle and 2 % of sheep tested positive for Q fever antibodies. Interestingly, no significant association between C. burnetii infection and abortion was observed in cattle (p < 0.05) but a high Neospora caninum seroprevalence indicated a strong link to abortion due to this parasite infection. The results highlight the presence of Q fever in both humans and animals on the surveyed farms, with farm dogs showing the highest seroprevalence. A point of concern arises from the significant prevalence of antibodies detected among farm workers, suggesting a potential history of unconfirmed symptomatic respiratory infections caused by a C. burnetii infection. However, further investigations are necessary to better understand the infection dynamics and its potential implications for public and animal health. |
| format | Artículo |
| id | INTA21864 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA218642025-04-01T12:46:45Z Shedding light on risk: Seroprevalence of Q fever among farm animals and workers in Ecuador Guerrero-Freire, Mónica Salomé Ledesma, Yanua Echeverria, Gustavo Blanco, Federico Carlos Waard, Jacobus H. de Fiebre Q Ganado Salud pública Obreros Agrícolas Ecuador Coxiella burnetii Salud Humana Sanidad Animal Q fever Livestock Public health Agricultural Workers Human Health Animal Health Seroprevalencia Seroprevalence Q fever, caused by the bacterium Coxiella burnetii, is a zoonotic disease that has been largely overlooked despite presenting significant risks to both animal and public health. Although well studied in some countries, in most countries in Latin America, there's a lack of information on C. burnetii infection, its prevalence, and its impact on both livestock and human populations. To address this gap, we conducted a serosurvey among farm workers, cattle, sheep, and dogs on two dairy farms in Ecuador using a commercial ELISA kit. Additionally, we conducted a case-control study in cattle to investigate the association between C. burnetii infection and abortion. The findings revealed that 18 % of farm workers, 30 % of dogs, 25 % of cattle and 2 % of sheep tested positive for Q fever antibodies. Interestingly, no significant association between C. burnetii infection and abortion was observed in cattle (p < 0.05) but a high Neospora caninum seroprevalence indicated a strong link to abortion due to this parasite infection. The results highlight the presence of Q fever in both humans and animals on the surveyed farms, with farm dogs showing the highest seroprevalence. A point of concern arises from the significant prevalence of antibodies detected among farm workers, suggesting a potential history of unconfirmed symptomatic respiratory infections caused by a C. burnetii infection. However, further investigations are necessary to better understand the infection dynamics and its potential implications for public and animal health. Instituto de Biotecnología Fil: Guerrero-Freire, Mónica Salomé. Universidad de las Américas. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud. One Health Research Group; Ecuador Fil: Guerrero-Freire, Mónica Salomé. Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA). Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Programa de Doctorado; Argentina Fil: Ledesma, Yanua. Universidad de las Américas. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud. One Health Research Group; Ecuador Fil: Ledesma, Yanua. Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA). Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Programa de Doctorado; Argentina Fil: Echeverria, Gustavo. Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA). Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Programa de Doctorado; Argentina Fil: Echeverria, Gustavo. Universidad Central del Ecuador. Instituto de Investigación en Zoonosis-CIZ; Ecuador Fil: Echeverria, Gustavo. BioGENA. División Investigación y Desarrollo; Ecuador Fil: Blanco, Federico Carlos. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular (IABIMO); Argentina Fil: Blanco, Federico Carlos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular (IABIMO); Argentina Fil: Waard, Jacobus H. de. Universidad de las Américas. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud. One Health Research Group; Ecuador 2025-04-01T12:35:16Z 2025-04-01T12:35:16Z 2024-12 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/21864 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352771424002659 2352-7714 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2024.100939 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Ecuador .......... (nation) (World, South America) 1000051 Elsevier One Health 19 : 100939 (Diciembre 2024) |
| spellingShingle | Fiebre Q Ganado Salud pública Obreros Agrícolas Ecuador Coxiella burnetii Salud Humana Sanidad Animal Q fever Livestock Public health Agricultural Workers Human Health Animal Health Seroprevalencia Seroprevalence Guerrero-Freire, Mónica Salomé Ledesma, Yanua Echeverria, Gustavo Blanco, Federico Carlos Waard, Jacobus H. de Shedding light on risk: Seroprevalence of Q fever among farm animals and workers in Ecuador |
| title | Shedding light on risk: Seroprevalence of Q fever among farm animals and workers in Ecuador |
| title_full | Shedding light on risk: Seroprevalence of Q fever among farm animals and workers in Ecuador |
| title_fullStr | Shedding light on risk: Seroprevalence of Q fever among farm animals and workers in Ecuador |
| title_full_unstemmed | Shedding light on risk: Seroprevalence of Q fever among farm animals and workers in Ecuador |
| title_short | Shedding light on risk: Seroprevalence of Q fever among farm animals and workers in Ecuador |
| title_sort | shedding light on risk seroprevalence of q fever among farm animals and workers in ecuador |
| topic | Fiebre Q Ganado Salud pública Obreros Agrícolas Ecuador Coxiella burnetii Salud Humana Sanidad Animal Q fever Livestock Public health Agricultural Workers Human Health Animal Health Seroprevalencia Seroprevalence |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/21864 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352771424002659 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2024.100939 |
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