Q FEVER EPIDEMIC IN VICTORIAN GENERAL PRACTICE

Abstract

In 1979, 110 people associated with a local rural abattoir presented with an acute febrile illness thought to be Q fever. Of these, 70 were shown by serotesting to have had Q fever, and one was shown to have had leptospirosis alone. Four individuals had mixed infections of Q fever with another zoonotic infection, two with leptospirosis, and two with brucellosis. Only 44% of suspected cases of Q fever were shown to have complement-fixing antibodies to Q fever four weeks after the infection, but 74% had anti-bodies 12 weeks after infection. This epidemic of Q fever occurred soon after the abattoir began to slaughter feral goats for the first time; there is reason to believe that the epidemic may have been related to the introduction of this practice.