2011•Emerging infectious diseasesOpen access
Molecular Epidemiology of Coxiella burnetii from Ruminants in Q Fever Outbreak, the Netherlands
H.I.J. Roest, Robin Ruuls, Jeroen J.H.C. Tilburg, Marrigje H. Nabuurs-Franssen, Corné H. W. Klaassen, P. Vellema, René van den Brom, D. Dercksen, W. Wouda, Marcel Spierenburg, Arco N. van der Spek, Rob Buijs, Albert G. de Boer, Peter Willemsen, F.G. van Zijderveld
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Abstract
Q fever is a zoonosis caused by the bacterium Coxiella burnetii. One of the largest reported outbreaks of Q fever in humans occurred in the Netherlands starting in 2007; epidemiologic investigations identified small ruminants as the source. To determine the genetic background of C. burnetii in domestic ruminants responsible for the human Q fever outbreak, we genotyped 126 C. burnetii-positive samples from ruminants by using a 10-loci multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analyses panel and compared them with internationally known genotypes. One unique genotype predominated in dairy goat herds and 1 sheep herd in the human Q fever outbreak area in the south of the Netherlands. On the basis of 4 loci, this genotype is similar to a human genotype from the Netherlands. This finding strengthens the probability that this genotype of C. burnetii is responsible for the human Q fever epidemic in the Netherlands.
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