Ceva Animal Health is hosting a webinar for farm vets: ‘Q Fever – a disease with underestimated consequences’, at 4:00pm on Wednesday 28th September.

Q Fever is caused by the bacterium Coxiella burnetii, which can infect humans, cattle, goats, sheep and many other mammals, as well as reptiles, ticks and birds.

Known originally as Query fever, it was first identified in Australia in 1935 after an outbreak of disease in abattoir workers.

Ceva says half of UK dairy farms may be at risk of Q Fever1, 2.

The webinar, which will be presented by Jonathan Statham MA VetMB DCHP FRCVS (pictured right), an RCVS-registered specialist in cattle health and co-author of the ‘Dairy Herd Health’ textbook, will count towards 1.5 hours of CPD.

It will cover the UK prevalence of Q Fever in herds, its cause and transmission, together with identification and diagnostics. 

It will also look at the variations between livestock species, disease prevention and its risk to humans as a zoonosis.

Jonathan said: "Q Fever is of much higher profile in many other parts of the world such as Australia and has been notifiable for some years with national testing programmes in a number of European countries such as Germany.

“Recently Q Fever has become notifiable in the UK and climate change is changing the future risk profile."

Renzo Di Florio, veterinary advisor at Ceva said: “The disease causes issues with reproduction and fertility and has the potential to have significant impact on livestock health and productivity.

"However, awareness is low amongst the farming industry.

“Our Q Fever webinar will help raise awareness of the disease and the preventative measures that can be put in place to help protect those working with livestock on a regular basis and reduce the impact of Q Fever on farms.

To register for the webinar or if you have further questions, e-mail cevauk-webinars@ceva.com

References

  1. Velasova M. et al. 2017. Herd-level prevalence of selected endemic infectious diseases of dairy cows in Great Britain. J. Dairy Sci. 100:9215–9233
  2. Valergakis G. et al. 2012. Coxiella burnetii in bulk tank milk of dairy cattle in south-west England. Vet Record 11;171(6):156, 1-2

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