| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立中興大學 === 獸醫學系暨研究所 === 98 === Q fever, a highly infective zoonosis, is caused by obligate intracellular bacterium Coxiella burnetii which has been isolated from varied animal species. Ruminants are the most important reservoirs for the pathogen. There is usually no clinical symptoms, however, some of suffered from acute illness would be febrile, atypical pneumonia, hepatitis, or endocarditis in chronic infection. Reproductive disorders such as abortion are the main manifestation in infected animals which can shed the organisms by birth fluids, placenta, aborted fetus, vaginal mucus, feces, urine, and milk. The aim of this study was to investigate antibodies of Q fever in cattle, goats, dogs, cats and mouse by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and indirect immunofluorescent assay (IFA) as epidemiological data of Q fever in Taiwan. The result of seroprevalence was 8.4 % (51/607) in bovine and 28.7 % (460/1603) in caprine, respectively. The prevalence was presented with 9.1 % (50/551) in dairy cattle and 1.8 % (1/56) in beef cattle, and with 30.1 % (428/1420) in dairy goats and 17.5 % (32/183) in meat goats, respectively. Total herd-level prevalence was 46.7 % (7/15) in cattle and higher in goats with 62.5 % (148/237). Region-level prevalence in cattle was highest in North (12.0 %), then Center (9.0 %), South (7.8 %), and East (1.8 %); however, it was highest in South (67.6 %), then Center (62.3 %), North (55.6 %), and East (28.6 %) in dairy goats in Taiwan, respectively. The prevalence in canine was 24.5 % (61/249). It was 25.6 % (43/168) in domestic dogs and 22.2 % (18/81) in stray dogs. Feline-prevalence was 27.2 % (53/195), including 30.8 % (37/120) and 21.3 % (16/75) in domestic and stray cats, respectively. In mouse, seroprevalence of Q fever was 6.5 % (4/62). According to the seroepidemiology, goats, dogs, and cats are the high-risk animals in Taiwan. It might be the warning information about Q fever for veterinarians, farm workers, and even the pet-owners in Taiwan.
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