Q Fever. An Emerging Disease

The aim of this book is to provide the practitioner with the most recent and best evidence information about the infection of Coxiella burnetii (Cb), causative agent of Q fever, in ruminants. After a brief introduction to highlight the important aspects of the bacteriology of Cb, the epidemiology and the pathogenesis will be described to strengthen the key points in terms of further control strategies improvement, especially regarding prevalence and description of different putative shedding patterns. Then, the clinical course of the disease will be described and the impact of Cb on reproduction disorders will be detailed, based on an exhaustive review of the literature. The available diagnostic tools will be described and some diagnostic scheme will be provided to help the practitioner in routine practice. The final chapter of this book will be devoted to a review of the different available control strategies, both medical and non medical ones. A special focus will be made on the data, provided by recent studies, on the interest of the use of antibiotics and/or vaccination to reduce and prevent Coxiella burnetii shedding in ruminants. We hope that this book, resolutely practical, will help veterinarians and farmers to better control Coxiella burnetii infection.