Laidoudi Younes, Rousset Elodie, Dessimoulie Anne-Sophie, Prigent Myriam, Raptopoulo Alizée, Huteau Quentin, Chabbert Elisabeth, Navarro Catherine, Fournier Pierre-Edouard, Davoust Bernard
Aix Marseille University, IRD, AP-HM, MEPHI, 13005 Marseille, France.
IHU Méditerranée Infection, 13005 Marseille, France.
Microorganisms. 2023 Apr 13;11(4):1016. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms11041016.
, also known as the causal agent of Q fever, is a zoonotic pathogen infecting humans and several animal species. Here, we investigated the epidemiological context of from an area in the Hérault department in southern France, using the One Health paradigm. In total, 13 human cases of Q fever were diagnosed over the last three years in an area comprising four villages. Serological and molecular investigations conducted on the representative animal population, as well as wind data, indicated that some of the recent cases are likely to have originated from a sheepfold, which revealed bacterial contamination and a seroprevalence of 47.6%. However, the clear-cut origin of human cases cannot be ruled out in the absence of molecular data from the patients. Multi-spacer typing based on dual barcoding nanopore sequencing highlighted the occurrence of a new genotype of . In addition, the environmental contamination appeared to be widespread across a perimeter of 6 km due to local wind activity, according to the seroprevalence detected in dogs (12.6%) and horses (8.49%) in the surrounding populations. These findings were helpful in describing the extent of the exposed area and thus supporting the use of dogs and horses as valuable sentinel indicators for monitoring Q fever. The present data clearly highlighted that the epidemiological surveillance of Q fever should be reinforced and improved.
，也被称为Q热的病原体，是一种感染人类和多种动物物种的人畜共患病原体。在此，我们使用“同一健康”范式调查了法国南部埃罗省一个地区的流行病学情况。在过去三年里，在一个由四个村庄组成的地区共诊断出13例人类Q热病例。对代表性动物种群进行的血清学和分子调查以及风向数据表明，最近的一些病例可能源自一个羊圈，该羊圈发现了细菌污染且血清阳性率为47.6%。然而，在缺乏患者分子数据的情况下，不能排除人类病例的确切来源。基于双条形码纳米孔测序的多间隔区分型突出显示了一种新的基因型的出现。此外，根据在周边人群中检测到的犬类（12.6%）和马匹（8.49%）的血清阳性率，由于当地风的活动，环境污染似乎在6公里的范围内广泛存在。这些发现有助于描述暴露区域的范围，从而支持将犬类和马匹用作监测Q热的有价值的哨兵指标。目前的数据清楚地表明，Q热的流行病学监测应得到加强和改进。
