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occupational health & safety /wsu animal contact program
Q-Fever
Personnel exposed to pregnant sheep or goatsQ-fever is a disease caused
by a microorganism called Coxiella burnetii. This can be acquired by exposure to
placental membranes and fetuses from infected sheep or goats. There is an
especially high concentration of these infected materials in animals at the time
that the animals give birth, so particular care needs to be used in handling new
born animals, placental tissues and other products of conception. This would
include the placenta, amniotic fluid, blood or soiled bedding. In addition,
individuals who handle young sheep or goats up to six months of age are at
higher risk, as are individuals who participate in the routine care of sheep or
goats such as the animal care workers. This infection is extremely contagious
and has been reported to be spread by aerosol.
In most individuals the disease manifests itself as an acute illness which
could be mistaken for influenza. The person has high fevers up to 104o or 105o.
These are accompanied by general malaise, significant muscle aches and pains,
and very frequently by a cough. Up to half of the individuals who develop this
acute disease will have a pneumonia which can be seen on chest x-rays. A large
number of people will also develop hepatitis. In most patients the disease is
self-limited and will resolve on its own after ten days to two weeks. In older
or ill individuals this acute illness may take one to two months to resolve.
Even though it will resolve on its own, it is generally better to treat the
disease with tetracycline because this does reduce the duration of fever. It is
extremely important that, should an employee who works with sheep or goats
develop an influenza type infection, that he/she mention to their physician the
possibility of Q- fever. Q-fever is something that would not routinely be
thought of and this diagnosis is often missed. Rarely a person may develop a
chronic infection with the Q-fever organism. This will happen in less than 1% of
infected individuals. This manifests itself as endocarditis which is an
infection on the valves of the heart. This is virtually always fatal when it
does occur. 90% of the people who develop this have some previous problem with
their heart valves. Because of this, people who have congenital heart disease,
prior valvular heart disease, or who have a chronic immunocompromised state
should not work with infected animals at the time of animal parturition. It is
best that these individuals not work with sheep, goats and cattle at all. This
can be determined on a case by case basis. Immunocompromised individuals would
include persons with AIDS or a positive blood test for the AIDS virus, people
who are immunocompromised because of medications which they take, and people who
are immunocompromised because of certain chronic diseases.
In order to limit the spread of Q-fever there are a number of procedures
which should be followed. Laboratories using sheep or goats and animal care
areas housing these animals should be strictly off limits to anyone who does not
have a specific need to be there. Gloves should always be used in handling the
placentas and newborns of these animals. It is important that animals be
transported carefully to avoid infecting others besides laboratory personnel.
Potentially contaminated surfaces should be decontaminated with dilute solutions
of chlorine bleach or dilute solutions of Lysol. These organisms are quite
resistant to destruction and many ordinary methods of disinfecting will not be
adequate. It is extremely important that laboratory doors be kept closed when
experiments are in progress. Employees working with potentially infected tissue
need to wear protective clothing that is not worn outside the area.
There is no effective vaccine to protect humans from Q- fever. Serum tests
may be done to see if you have been exposed to Q-fever.
Return to Zoonotic Disease
Page
URL: http://www.ehs.wsu.edu/acp/Qfever.asp
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Revised
2/22/02
Reviewed
07/25/07
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