seroprevalence of q fever and risk factors affecting transmission of coxiella burnetii in industrial slaughterhouse; a survey from northeastern iran

Background: q fever is a generally neglected infection caused by coxiella burnetii. slaughterhouse workers exposed to livestock are among occupationally at-risk people. objectives: this study was conducted to investigate the seroprevalence of anti- coxiella burnetii(q fever) igg antibody among industrial slaughterhouse workers and factors affecting the risk of infection. methods: in this cross-sectional study serum samples were taken from 91 individuals working at the central industrial abattoir in mashhad, iran using a convenient sampling method. sera were kept at -80°c until assayed for specific anti- coxiella burnetiiigg antibodies (phase 1) using the commercial elisa kit. the participants filled out a checklist addressing potential risk factors of acquiring the infection. spss 11.5 was used for data analysis considering a significance level of p < 0.05. results: the participants’ mean age was 38.7 ± 8 years. fifty-six percent of the studied individuals (51 out of 91) were found positive for anti- coxiella burnetiiantibodies. the most prevalent cases were sheep (29, 57%) and cow (18, 35%) butchers. the odds of q fever infection increased among those with a history of accidental hand cuts of more than five times during the previous years (or = 2.56, ci95% = 1.02 - 6.33, p-value = 0.04) and those dealing with sheep as the primary livestock (or = 2.9, ci95% = 1.09 - 7.66, p = 0.02). conclusions: the high seropositivity rate of anti- coxiella burnetiiigg reflects high exposure rate of workers to this potentially serious pathogen in slaughtherhouses; therefore, careful education, follow-up, and revision of decontamination policies and improved occupational care and environmental hygiene should be strictly implemented in slaughterhouses to reduce the risk.