title: Herd-level Coxiella burnetii seroprevalence was not associated with herd-level breeding performance in Czech dairy herds.
abstract: Q fever was studied on a large agricultural farm in northern Moravia, Czech Republic. Antibodies to Coxiella burnetii were ascertained by a complement fixation test. Titre of 8 or higher was considered as positive. The seroprevalences in cows (each cow was examined only once immediately after drying-off during a one-year period) from 14 different herds was between 4 to 19%. No significant correlation between seroprevalence levels and fertility characteristics in the cow herds was found. Of a total of 17 samples of milk from 17 randomly-selected cows with antibody titres of 8 to 32, one strain of Coxiella burnetii was isolated. In heifers (n = 339) and beef bulls (n = 210) no antibodies to C. burnetii were found. In cattle from the farm investigated, latent Q fever did not represent any health problem.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Veterinary Epidemiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic. zdposp@dior.ics.muni.cz
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Literák
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kroupa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D001681:Biological Assay; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology; D003168:Complement Fixation Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D016997:Coxiella burnetii / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018153:Czech Republic / Q000453:epidemiology; D003612:Dairying; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility / Q000276:immunology*; D019085:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Direct / Q000662:veterinary; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011778:Q Fever / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial