Seroepidemiology of Q fever among domestic animals in Nova Scotia

Abstract

We used the indirect microimmunofluorescence test to determine the presence of antibodies in sheep, cattle, goat, cat, and dog sera to phase I and II Coxiella burnetii antigens in Nova Scotia. Only 6.7% of the 329 sheep tested had antibodies to phase II antigen and none had antibodies to phase I. Of 29 goats tested, 7% and 3.5% had antibodies to phase II and phase I antigens, respectively. In contrast, 23.8% of the 214 cattle tested had antibodies to phase II antigen, and 24.2% had antibodies to phase I antigen; 24.1% of 216 cats tested had antibodies to phase II antigen and 6% had antibodies to phase I antigen. None of the 447 dogs tested had antibodies detected. We conclude that cattle and cats may be reservoirs for human Q fever in Nova Scotia.