Mahendra Pal^1,, Ravindra Zende², Walde Abdisa³, Motuma Regassa⁴, Melkamu Mekonnen⁵, Haregawi Tesfaye⁶, Nidhi Panicker²

Q fever is a globally significant zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii, an obligately intracellular, pleomorphic gram-negative bacterium. It affects various mammals, birds, arthropods, and humans, with cattle, sheep, goats, and ticks serving as primary reservoirs. The bacterium is shed in large quantities through amniotic fluid, placenta, milk, urine, and feces of infected animals, and it can persist in a spore-like form for over 40 months. Airborne transmission, environmental resilience, and high bacterial loads in infected reproductive tissues have classified C. burnetii as a Category B biological terrorism agent. In humans, Q fever presents in acute and chronic forms, causing endocarditis, hepatitis, pneumonia, encephalitis, meningitis, and adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as abortion and stillbirth. The disease manifests with symptoms like abortion, stillbirth, weak offspring in sheep and goats, infertility, metritis, and mastitis in cattle and camels. Diagnostic methods include bacterial isolation, serological assays, PCR, and staining techniques. Treatment involves oxytetracycline in late-gestation livestock and doxycycline as the preferred drug in humans. World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) has included Q fever as a notifiable disease due to its public health and economic importance. Effective control measures include vaccination, antibiotic therapy, tick control through insecticides, and rigorous hygiene practices to limit environmental contamination. In Ethiopia, where livestock is integral to livelihoods, further research is crucial to improve surveillance and implement targeted prevention strategies to mitigate its impact on public health and the economy. One Health intervention is needed to mitigate Q fever, which is an important anthropozoonosis of public health importance.

Biological terrorism, Coxiella burnetii, Doxycycline, Economic significance, PCR, Pubic health, Q fever