{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,28]],"date-time":"2026-10-28T22:52:45Z","timestamp":1793227965701,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,10,25]],"date-time":"2019-10-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1571961600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,10,25]],"date-time":"2019-10-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1571961600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Ministry of Agriculture of Slovenia","award":["Target Research Project No. V4-0477"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Target Research Project No. V4-0477"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["BMC Vet Res"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n              <jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>The obligate intracellular bacterium <jats:italic>Coxiella burnetii<\/jats:italic> causes globally distributed zoonotic Q fever. Ruminant livestock are common reservoirs of <jats:italic>C. burnetii<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>Coxiella burnetii<\/jats:italic> are shed in large numbers in the waste of infected animals and are transmitted by inhalation of contaminated aerosols. This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of <jats:italic>C. burnetii<\/jats:italic> infection in domestic animals and ticks in areas of Slovenia associated with a history of Q fever outbreaks.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec>\n              <jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>A total of 701 ticks were collected and identified from vegetation, domestic animals and wild animals. <jats:italic>C. burnetii<\/jats:italic> DNA was detected in 17 out of 701 (2.4%) ticks. No <jats:italic>C. burnetii<\/jats:italic> DNA was found in male ticks. Ticks that tested positive in the PCR-based assay were most commonly sampled from wild deer (5.09%), followed by ticks collected from domestic animals (1.16%) and ticks collected by flagging vegetation (0.79%). Additionally, 150 animal blood samples were investigated for the presence of <jats:italic>C. burnetii-<\/jats:italic>specific antibodies and pathogen DNA. The presence of pathogen DNA was confirmed in 14 out of 150 (9.3%) blood samples, while specific antibodies were detected in sera from 60 out of 150 (40.4%) animals.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec>\n              <jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Our results indicate that ticks, although not the primary source of the bacteria, are infected with <jats:italic>C. burnetii<\/jats:italic> and may represent a potential source of infection for humans and animals. Ticks collected from animals were most likely found to harbor <jats:italic>C. burnetii<\/jats:italic> DNA, and the infection was not lost during molting. The persistence and distribution of pathogens in cattle and sheep indicates that <jats:italic>C. burnetii<\/jats:italic> is constantly present in Slovenia.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s12917-019-2130-3","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,10,25]],"date-time":"2019-10-25T18:24:53Z","timestamp":1572027893000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":40,"title":["The prevalence of Coxiella burnetii in ticks and animals in Slovenia"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Nata\u0161a","family":"Knap","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9837-7732","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Diana","family":"\u017dele","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ur\u0161ka","family":"Glin\u0161ek Bi\u0161kup","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tatjana","family":"Av\u0161i\u010d-\u017dupanc","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gorazd","family":"Vengu\u0161t","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,10,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"2130_CR1","unstructured":"Walker DH: Rickettsiae. 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According to the Local Ethical Committee on Animal Testing at University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), formal ethical approval is not required for this kind of study.","order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"The authors affirm that no financial or personal relationship existed that could have inappropriately influenced the content of this manuscript or the opinions expressed.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"368"}}