Seroprevalence and Associated Risk Factors in Cattle, Sheep, and Goats in Estonia.

Q fever, a disease caused by (), is an emerging zoonotic health problem. The prevalence data from potential sources are valuable for assessing the risk to human and animal health. To estimate the prevalence of antibodies in Estonian ruminants, pooled milk and serum samples from cattle () and pooled serum samples from sheep () and goats () were analyzed. Additionally, bulk tank milk samples (BTM; n = 72) were analyzed for the presence of DNA. Questionnaires and herd-level datasets were used to identify the risk factors for exposure using binary logistic regression analysis. The prevalence of -positive dairy cattle herds (27.16%) was significantly higher than that in beef cattle herds (6.67%) and sheep flocks (2.35%). No antibodies were detected in the goat flocks. DNA was found in 11.36% of the BTM samples. The odds of seropositivity were higher in dairy cattle herds, with an increasing number of cattle in the herd, and with location in southwestern, northeastern and northwestern Estonia. Dairy cattle herds had higher odds of testing positive for in BTM if the dairy cows were kept loose and lower odds if the herd was located in northwestern Estonia.