Author(s):
Pires, Humberto ; Santos-Silva, Sérgio ; Cruz, Andreia V. S. ; Cardoso, Luís M. M. L. ; Lopes, Ana Patrícia ; Pereira, Maria A. ; Nóbrega, Carmen ; Mega, Ana Cristina ; Santos, Carla ; Cruz, Rita ; Esteves, Fernando ; Vala, Helena ; Matos, Ana Cristina ; Barradas, Patrícia F. ; Coelho, Ana Cláudia ; Mesquita, João R.
Date: 2024
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/172974
Origin: Repositório Institucional da UNL
Subject(s): Bulk milk; Coxiella burnetii; One health; Portugal; Sheep; veterinary(all); SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Description
Funding Information: This work is supported by National Funds by FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under Centre for Natural Resources, Environment and Society (CERNAS, UIDB/00681/2020) and Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB, https// https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/04033/2020 ); Funda\u00E7\u00E3o para a Ci\u00EAncia e a Tecnologia for funds to GHTM - UID/04413/2020 and LA-REAL \u2013 LA/P/0117/2020 and FEDER through the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Internationalization and national funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology\u2014FCT (Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education) under the Unidade de Investiga\u00E7\u00E3o em Epidemiologia\u2014Instituto de Sa\u00FAde P\u00FAblica da Universidade do Porto (EPIUnit) (UIDB/04750/2020). Andreia V. S. Cruz and S\u00E9rgio Santos-Silva thank FCT for the financial support of their PhD works under the Maria de Sousa scholarships 2022.15408.BD and 2021.09461.BD, respectively. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.
Coxiella burnetii is the etiologic agent of Q fever, a worldwide zoonosis. Cattle, sheep and goats are considered the main reservoirs of the disease. Transmission to humans occurs mainly through the inhalation of infectious aerosols from milk, faeces, urine, and birth products from infected ruminants. In this study, a 2-year longitudinal approach was performed to ascertain the excretion of C. burnetii in bulk tank milk samples of sheep from a mountain plateau in central Portugal, with sampling conducted during the years 2015 and 2016. From a total of 156 bulk tank milk samples tested by qPCR, only one showed to be positive for C. burnetii (1.28% [95%CI: 0.03–6.94]), from 2015, the first year of collection. Bidirectional sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of IS1111 transposase partial region confirmed the presence of C. burnetii DNA. The presence of C. burnetii in raw milk samples highlights the necessity for additional research to determine if raw milk is a potential source for human infection. Animal health surveillance and prevention measures against this zoonotic disease should be considered.
