Mangena, MarupingGcebe, NomakorintePierneef, Rian EwaldThompson, P.N. (Peter N.)Adesiyun, Abiodun Adewale2022-02-172022-02-172021-02-24Mangena, M.; Gcebe, N.; Pierneef, R.; Thompson, P.N.; Adesiyun, A.A. Q Fever: Seroprevalence, Risk Factors in Slaughter Livestock and Genotypes of Coxiella burnetii in South Africa. Pathogens 2021, 10, 258. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10030258.2076-0817 (online)10.3390/pathogens10030258http://hdl.handle.net/2263/84038Q fever is a neglected zoonosis in South Africa, causing significant losses in livestock and game animals through reproductive disorders. However, there are limited studies on the extent of Coxiella burnetii infections in livestock in South Africa. Further, there is also lack of knowledge about the types of C. burnetii strains that are currently circulating in the country. Therefore, a cross-sectional, abattoir-based study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of C. burnetii and associated risk factors, and to characterize C. burnetii strains from slaughter livestock at red meat abattoirs in Gauteng, South Africa. Of the 507 animals tested, 6.9% (95% CI: 4.9–9.5%) were positive for antibodies against C. burnetii. The seroprevalence was 9.4% (31/331) in cattle, 4.3% (3/69) in sheep, and 0.9% (1/107) in pigs. Out of the 63 tissue samples from 35 seropositive animals including material from two sheep aborted fetuses from Mangaung district (Free State province), 12.7% (8/63) tested positive by IS1111 PCR. Genotyping of the eight PCR-positive tissues from eight animals by MLVA revealed two novel genotypes, not available in Coxiella MLVA databases. It is concluded that slaughter animals pose a risk of exposing abattoir and farm workers to C. burnetii in South Africa.en© 2021 by the authors. Licensee: MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.TissuesQ feverSouth Africa (SA)Small cell variants (SCVs)Large cell variants (LCVs)Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)Multi Locus VNTR Analysis (MLVA)Variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR)Veterinary science articles SDG-03SDG-03: Good health and well-beingArticle