Please cite this article in press as: van Engelen, E., et al., Prevalence and risk factors for Coxiella burnetii (Q fever) in Dutch dairy cattle herds based on bulk tank milk testing. PREVET (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2014.08.016 ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model PREVET-3642; No. of Pages 7 Preventive Veterinary Medicine xxx (2014) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Preventive Veterinary Medicine j ourna l h om epa ge: www.elsevier.com/locate/prevetmed Prevalence and risk factors for Coxiella burnetii (Q fever) in Dutch dairy cattle herds based on bulk tank milk testing E. van Engelen a,∗,1 , N. Schotten b,1 , B. Schimmer b , J.L.A. Hautvast c , G. van Schaik a , Y.T.H.P. van Duijnhoven b a GD Animal Health, P.O. Box 9, 7400 AA Deventer, The Netherlands b Centre for Infectious Disease Control Netherlands, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands c Department of Primary and Community Care, Academic Collaborative Centre for Public Health (AMPHI), Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, P.O. Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 31 October 2013 Received in revised form 27 August 2014 Accepted 28 August 2014 Keywords: Prevalence Risk factors Q fever Dairy cattle a b s t r a c t Despite cattle herds can harbor Coxiella burnetii, risk factors for C. burnetii presence in dairy cattle herds are largely unknown. Therefore, C. burnetii herd prevalence and risk factors for bulk tank milk (BTM) positivity were investigated. In this cross-sectional study, a question- naire was filled out by the farmer and BTM from 301 farms was tested by ELISA for presence of C. burnetii antibodies and PCR for presence of C. burnetii DNA. Risk factors were identified by univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses. Antibodies to C. burnetii were detected in 81.6% (CI: 77.2–85.9) and C. burnetii DNA in 18.8% (CI: 14.4–23.1) of the BTM samples. Herd size (OR = 1.1 per 10 cows), cleaning the bedding of the cubicles at most every other day (OR = 2.8) and purchase of cattle from at least two addresses (OR = 3.1) showed a significant and positive association with ELISA positivity and use of an automatic milk- ing system a negative association (OR = 0.3). Risk factors for PCR positivity were purchase of cattle from at least two delivery addresses (OR = 3.2), presence of cows with ticks (OR = 2.0), use of an automatic milking system (OR = 0.2) and presence of goats or sheep on the farm (OR = 0.4). Biosecurity and general hygiene seem associated with introduction and spread of C. burnetii in dairy herds. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Q fever is a human zoonosis which is caused by an obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacterium, Coxiella burnetii (Angelakis and Raoult, 2010). This bacterium has an almost worldwide distribution, affecting both a vari- ety of animals and humans. In the Netherlands from 2007 ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +31 0570 660550; fax: +31 0570 660176. E-mail address: e.v.engelen@gddiergezondheid.nl (E. van Engelen). 1 These authors contributed equally to this work. to 2010, an outbreak of human cases occurred on a scale that never had been observed before (van der Hoek et al., 2010; Roest et al., 2011a). This outbreak could be related to abortion problems on dairy goat- and sheep farms. Besides sheep, goats and other animals such as cats, dogs and birds, also cattle can harbor C. burnetii and can function as reservoirs for human infection (Fournier et al., 1998; McQuiston et al., 2005; Parker et al., 2006; Angelakis and Raoult, 2010). While for dairy goats and sheep, an impor- tant symptom of infection is abortion, in cattle, this is rarely the case, and shedding of C. burnetii is of lower level (van Moll et al., 1993; Arricau-Bouvery and Rodolakis, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2014.08.016 0167-5877/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.