Ceva Animal Health is encouraging farmers experiencing fertility issues in their dairy herds to test for Q fever.
The animal health company’s advice follows recent diagnostic data from 274 Q-Test bulk tank milk PCR samples.
1,217 have been submitted to date in 2023 and identified that 50% of the herds tested were positive for Q fever.
Ceva Animal Health said Q fever has been historically underestimated as a cause of infertility and awareness of the disease amongst farmers has been low, despite the disease being endemic in Great British dairy herds for some years.
“While Q fever has the potential to impact herd productivity, the disease is frequently overlooked as other infertility causes are often investigated first, which can lead to economic losses for farmers in the meantime,” the company said.
Q fever
Q fever is caused by the bacterium Coxiella burnetii and is zoonotic, which makes it a health risk to those in contact with infected animals including farmers, farming families, vets and abattoir workers.
Infected dairy cattle generally do not display clinical signs, however they include severe hyperthermia and rapid pneumonia in the acute phase (inflammatory stage) with spontaneous recovery over seven days.
In the chronic phase, Q fever primarily affects reproductive performance in cattle and presents a serious threat to productivity.
Ceva Animal Health said signs reported in Q Test samples that tested positive include infertility (79%), abortions (71%), metritis/endometritis (36%), retained placenta (15%), and pregnancy loss/still borns/weak newborns (11%).
Veterinary surgeon at Synergy Farm Health, Tom Angel, said the bulk milk Q fever testing that was undertaken by the farm veterinarian returned positive results in approximately 80% of farms sampled.
“The challenge for vets is assessing the impact this disease is having on farm. In some cases, where other causes have been excluded, signs such as increased pregnancy losses and still birth rates have been identified,” he said.
“However, on other units more subtle, but still costly effects, such as increased days open and increased transition disease may be attributable to Q fever.
“Working out the best strategy for on-farm control is where supplementary diagnostics, such as serological testing of animals in different management groups, and the cost calculator from Ceva’s Q audit has allowed us to guide the best vaccination protocols on different farms in a cost-effective manner.”
Q fever awareness
Angel said farmers and vets should become more aware and engaged on issues around Q fever and research vaccines.
A new Q map from Ceva Animal Health highlights the incidence of Q fever in dairy herds throughout the UK based on the Q Test data.
Ruminant veterinary advisor at Ceva Animal Health, Katherine Timms, said the map demonstrates that the disease is endemic throughout the UK and it will be updated on an ongoing basis.
“Diagnosis can be challenging, as it is similar to many other diseases in dairy herds.
“Farmers should ask their vet to investigate the disease if cows in their herd are experiencing fertility issues; these include unexplained abortion and still birth, high levels of metritis and endometritis, or if there is unexplained poor fertility performance such as repeat breeding, higher calving to conception rate and embryo loss,” she said.
