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Wood CM, Perkins NR, Tozer SJ, Johnson W, Barnes TS, McGowan M, Gibson JS, Alawneh J, Firestone SM, Woldeyohannes SM. Prevalence and spatial distribution of Coxiella burnetii seropositivity in northern Australian beef cattle adjusted for diagnostic test uncertainty. Prev Vet Med 2021; 189:105282. [PMID: 33556799 DOI: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2021.105282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2020] [Revised: 01/14/2021] [Accepted: 01/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by infection with Coxiella burnetii transmitted from animals including, but not limited to, cattle, sheep and goats. The infection in cattle is typically sub-clinical with some evidence suggesting associated reproductive loss. There is currently limited data on the true prevalence and distribution of coxiellosis in beef cattle across northern Australia. During this study, 2,012 sera samples from beef cattle managed on commercial farms located in Queensland and the Northern Territory were tested using an indirect immunofluorescent assay (IFA) for serological evidence of IgG antibodies against C. burnetii. Bayesian latent class models were used to estimate the true prevalence, adjusted for diagnostic test sensitivity and specificity and incorporating the hierarchical structure of the cattle within farms and regions. In this study, cattle in the Northern Territory had lower estimated true prevalence than cattle within most regions of Queensland with the exception of south-east Queensland. Results from this study have described the geographic distribution and estimated the true prevalence of antibodies to C. burnetii in a sample of extensively managed beef cattle located across the tropical grazing regions of northern Australia.
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Affiliation(s)
- C M Wood
- The University of Queensland, School of Veterinary Science, Gatton, Queensland, 4343, Australia; Centre for Children's Health Research, Queensland Paediatric Infectious Disease Laboratory, Lady Cilento Research Precinct, South Brisbane, Queensland, 4101, Australia.
| | - N R Perkins
- The University of Queensland, School of Veterinary Science, Gatton, Queensland, 4343, Australia
| | - S J Tozer
- The University of Queensland, School of Veterinary Science, Gatton, Queensland, 4343, Australia; Centre for Children's Health Research, Queensland Paediatric Infectious Disease Laboratory, Lady Cilento Research Precinct, South Brisbane, Queensland, 4101, Australia
| | - W Johnson
- The University of California, Irvine, Department of Statistics, Irvine, CA, 92617, United States
| | - T S Barnes
- The University of Queensland, School of Veterinary Science, Gatton, Queensland, 4343, Australia; The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, Gatton, Queensland, 4343, Australia
| | - M McGowan
- The University of Queensland, School of Veterinary Science, Gatton, Queensland, 4343, Australia
| | - J S Gibson
- The University of Queensland, School of Veterinary Science, Gatton, Queensland, 4343, Australia
| | - J Alawneh
- The University of Queensland, School of Veterinary Science, Gatton, Queensland, 4343, Australia
| | - S M Firestone
- The University of Melbourne, Asia-Pacific Centre for Animal Health, Melbourne Veterinary School, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia
| | - S M Woldeyohannes
- The University of Queensland, School of Veterinary Science, Gatton, Queensland, 4343, Australia
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