Detection of Coxiella burnetii in Ambient Air after a Large Q Fever Outbreak

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 11; no. 3; p. e0151281
• Main Authors: de Rooij, Myrna M T, Borlée, Floor, Smit, Lidwien A M, de Bruin, Arnout, Janse, Ingmar, Heederik, Dick J J, Wouters, Inge M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 18.03.2016; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Aerosol measurements; Animals; Annual variations; Biology and Life Sciences; Care and treatment; Complications and side effects; Coxiella burnetii; Coxiella burnetii - genetics; Coxiella burnetii - isolation & purification; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Disease control; Disease Outbreaks; DNA; DNA, Bacterial - genetics; Earth Sciences; Epidemiology; Farms; Female; Goats; Health aspects; Health risk assessment; Humans; Immunization; Infections; Infectious diseases; Livestock; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Milk; Netherlands - epidemiology; Outbreaks; Particulate Matter; People and Places; Polymerase chain reaction; Product safety; Public health; Q fever; Q Fever - epidemiology; Q Fever - genetics; Regression analysis; Residential areas; Residential location; Respiratory system; Rickettsiae; Seasonal variations; Sheep; Temporal variations; Netherlands
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151281

One of the largest Q fever outbreaks ever occurred in the Netherlands from 2007-2010, with 25 fatalities among 4,026 notified cases. Airborne dispersion of Coxiella burnetii was suspected but not studied extensively at the time. We investigated temporal and spatial variation of Coxiella burnetii in ambient air at residential locations in the most affected area in the Netherlands (the South-East), in the year immediately following the outbreak. One-week average ambient particulate matter < 10 μm samples were collected at eight locations from March till September 2011. Presence of Coxiella burnetii DNA was determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Associations with various spatial and temporal characteristics were analyzed by mixed logistic regression. Coxiella burnetii DNA was detected in 56 out of 202 samples (28%). Airborne Coxiella burnetii presence showed a clear seasonal pattern coinciding with goat kidding. The spatial variation was significantly associated with number of goats on the nearest goat farm weighted by the distance to the farm (OR per IQR: 1.89, CI: 1.31-2.76). We conclude that in the year after a large Q fever outbreak, temporal variation of airborne Coxiella burnetii is suggestive to be associated with goat kidding, and spatial variation with distance to and size of goat farms. Aerosol measurements show to have potential for source identification and attribution of an airborne pathogen, which may also be applicable in early stages of an outbreak.