{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]],"date-time":"2026-06-04T03:00:31Z","timestamp":1780542031384,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,13]],"date-time":"2020-08-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1597276800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002347","name":"Bundesministerium f\u00fcr Bildung und Forschung","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["01KI1726B and 01KI1726G"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["01KI1726B and 01KI1726G"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002347","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The main reservoir of Coxiella (C.) burnetii are ruminants. They shed the pathogen through birth products, vaginal mucus, faeces and milk. A direct comparison of C. burnetii excretions between naturally infected sheep and goats was performed on the same farm to investigate species-specific differences. The animals were vaccinated with an inactivated C. burnetii phase I vaccine at the beginning of the study period for public health reasons. Vaginal and rectal swabs along with milk specimens were taken monthly during the lambing period and once again at the next lambing season. To estimate the environmental contamination of the animals\u2019 housings, nasal swabs from every animal were taken simultaneously. Moreover, dust samples from the windowsills and straw beddings were collected. All samples were examined by qPCR targeting the IS1111 gene and the MLVA\/VNTR typing method was performed. Whole genome sequencing was applied to determine the number of IS1111 copies followed by a calculation of C. burnetii genome equivalents of each sample. The cattle-associated genotype C7 was detected containing 29 IS1111 copies. Overall, goats seem to shed more C. burnetii through vaginal mucus and in particular shed more and for longer via the rectal route than sheep. This is supported by the larger quantities of C. burnetii DNA detected in caprine nasal swabs and environmental samples compared to the ovine ones. Transmission of C. burnetii from cattle to small ruminants must also be considered.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens9080652","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,13]],"date-time":"2020-08-13T09:23:44Z","timestamp":1597310624000},"page":"652","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":38,"title":["Comparison of Coxiella burnetii Excretion between Sheep and Goats Naturally Infected with One Cattle-Associated Genotype"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Benjamin","family":"Bauer","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinic for Swine and Small Ruminants, Forensic Medicine and Ambulatory Service, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bischofsholer Damm 15, 30173 Hannover, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Louise","family":"Pr\u00fcfer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES), Food and Veterinary Institute Braunschweig\/Hannover, Eintrachtweg 17, 30173 Hannover, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3012-2626","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mathias","family":"Walter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Neuherbergstra\u00dfe 11, 80937 Munich, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Isabel","family":"Ganter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt-Universit\u00e4t zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dimitrios","family":"Frangoulidis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Neuherbergstra\u00dfe 11, 80937 Munich, Germany"},{"name":"Bundeswehr Medical Service Headquarters VI-2, Medical Intelligence &amp; Information (MI2), Dachauer Stra\u00dfe 128, 80637 Munich, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Martin","family":"Runge","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES), Food and Veterinary Institute Braunschweig\/Hannover, Eintrachtweg 17, 30173 Hannover, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1589-0803","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martin","family":"Ganter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinic for Swine and Small Ruminants, Forensic Medicine and Ambulatory Service, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bischofsholer Damm 15, 30173 Hannover, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"115","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.00045-16","article-title":"From Q fever to Coxiella burnetii infection: A paradigm change","volume":"30","author":"Eldin","year":"2017","journal-title":"Clin. Microbiol. Rev."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7253","DOI":"10.1128\/AEM.02180-15","article-title":"Circulation of Coxiella burnetii in a naturally infected flock of dairy sheep: Shedding dynamics, environmental contamination, and genotype diversity","volume":"81","author":"Laroucau","year":"2015","journal-title":"Appl. Environ. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"600","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vetmic.2013.09.015","article-title":"Quantitative real-time PCR and phase specific serology are mutually supportive in Q fever diagnostics in goats","volume":"167","author":"Sting","year":"2013","journal-title":"Vet. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"849","DOI":"10.1051\/vetres:2007038","article-title":"Coxiella burnetii shedding by dairy cows","volume":"38","author":"Guatteo","year":"2007","journal-title":"Vet. Res."},{"key":"ref_5","first-page":"1","article-title":"Prevalence of Coxiella burnetii in German sheep flocks and evaluation of a novel approach to detect an infection via preputial swabs at herd-level","volume":"148","author":"Wolf","year":"2020","journal-title":"Epidemiol. Infect."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10","DOI":"10.1016\/j.prevetmed.2016.05.014","article-title":"Q fever seroprevalence and risk factors in sheep and goats in northwest Italy","volume":"130","author":"Rizzo","year":"2016","journal-title":"Prev. Vet. Med."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"500","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vetmic.2013.08.004","article-title":"Serological evidence of exposure to Coxiella burnetii in sheep and goats in central Portugal","volume":"167","author":"Tavares","year":"2013","journal-title":"Vet. Micorbiol."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20407","DOI":"10.2807\/ese.18.08.20407-en","article-title":"Q fever in humans and farm animals in four European countries, 1982 to 2010","volume":"18","author":"Georgiev","year":"2013","journal-title":"Eurosurveillance"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Porten, K., Rissland, J., Tigges, A., Broll, S., Hopp, W., Lunemann, M., van Treeck, U., Kimmig, P., Brockmann, S.O., and Wagner-Wiening, C. (2006). A super-spreading ewe infects hundreds with Q fever at a farmers\u2019 market in Germany. BMC Infect. Dis., 6.","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2334-6-147"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"69","DOI":"10.1016\/j.smallrumres.2013.12.006","article-title":"The rise and control of the 2007\u20132012 human Q fever outbreaks in the Netherlands","volume":"118","author":"Vellema","year":"2014","journal-title":"Small Rumin. Res."},{"key":"ref_11","first-page":"184","article-title":"Coxiella burnetii: A review focusing on infections in German sheep and goat flocks","volume":"133","author":"Bauer","year":"2020","journal-title":"Berl. Munch. Tierarztl. Wochenschr."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5352","DOI":"10.3168\/jds.2006-815","article-title":"Comparison of Coxiella burnetii shedding in milk of dairy bovine, caprine, and ovine herds","volume":"90","author":"Rodolakis","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Dairy Sci."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7405","DOI":"10.1128\/AEM.05530-11","article-title":"A four-year evaluation of the effect of vaccination against Coxiella burnetii on reducing animal infection and environmental contamination in a naturally infected dairy sheep flock","volume":"77","author":"Astobiza","year":"2011","journal-title":"Appl. Environ. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"120","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1574-695X.2011.00893.x","article-title":"Coxiella burnetii vaginal shedding and antibody responses in dairy goat herds in a context of clinical Q fever outbreaks","volume":"64","author":"Rousset","year":"2012","journal-title":"FEMS Immunol. Med. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_15","unstructured":"Caetano Simoes, J.C., Ferreira, A.S., and Jorge de Silva, G. (2017). Q fever vaccination in ruminants: A critical review. The Principles and Practice of Q Fever, Nova Science Publishers Inc."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e58","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rvsc.2010.11.014","article-title":"Coxiella burnetii shedding and environmental contamination at lambing in two highly naturally-infected dairy sheep flocks after vaccination","volume":"91","author":"Astobiza","year":"2011","journal-title":"Res. Vet. Sci."},{"key":"ref_17","first-page":"3","article-title":"Long-term monitoring of a Coxiella burnetti-infected sheep flock after vaccination and antibiotic treatment under field conditions","volume":"126","author":"Eibach","year":"2013","journal-title":"Berl. Munch. Tierarztl. Wochenschr."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW) (2010). Scientific opinion on Q fever. EFSA J., 8, 1595.","DOI":"10.2903\/j.efsa.2010.1595"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"119","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vetmic.2015.07.011","article-title":"Coxiella burnetii infections in sheep or goats: An opinionated review","volume":"181","author":"Roest","year":"2015","journal-title":"Vet. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1697","DOI":"10.1128\/AEM.03472-12","article-title":"Presence and persistence of Coxiella burnetii in the environment of goat farms associated with a Q fever outbreak","volume":"79","author":"Kersh","year":"2013","journal-title":"Appl. Environ. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_21","first-page":"e01618","article-title":"A Q fever outbreak with a high rate of abortions in a dairy goat farm: Coxiella burnetii shedding, environmental contamination and viability","volume":"84","author":"Basterretxea","year":"2018","journal-title":"Appl. Environ. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_22","first-page":"470","article-title":"Detection of Coxiella burnetii in the air of a sheep barn during shearing","volume":"112","author":"Schulz","year":"2005","journal-title":"Deut. Tieraerztl. Wochenschr."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1202","DOI":"10.1111\/tbed.13137","article-title":"Swab cloths as a tool for revealing environmental contamination by Q fever in ruminant farms","volume":"66","author":"Barry","year":"2019","journal-title":"Transbound. Emerg. Dis."},{"key":"ref_24","first-page":"382","article-title":"Molecular typing of Coxiella burnetii (Q fever)","volume":"Volume 984","author":"Toman","year":"2012","journal-title":"Coxiella Burnetii: Recent Advances and New Perspectives in Research in the Q Fever Bacterium"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Klee, S.R., Tyczka, J., Ellerbrok, H., Franz, T., Linke, S., Baljer, G., and Appel, B. (2006). Highly sensitive real-time PCR for specific detection and quantification of Coxiella burnetii. BMC Microbiol., 6.","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2180-6-2"},{"key":"ref_26","first-page":"427","article-title":"The impact of Q fever-phase-specific milk serology for the diagnosis of puerperal and chronic milk shedding of C. burnetii in dairy cows","volume":"126","author":"Frangoulidis","year":"2013","journal-title":"Berl. Munch. Tierarztl. Wochenschr."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"268","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1574-6968.2005.00036.x","article-title":"Establishment of a genotyping scheme for Coxiella burnetii","volume":"254","author":"Svraka","year":"2006","journal-title":"FEMS Microbiol. Lett."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Di Domenico, M., Curini, V., Di Lollo, V., Massimini, M., Di Gialleonardo, L., Franco, A., Caprioli, A., Battisti, A., and Camm\u00e0, C. (2018). Genetic diversity of Coxiella burnetii in domestic ruminants in central Italy. BMC Vet. Res., 14.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12917-018-1499-8"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Astobiza, I., Tilburg, J.J., Pi\u00f1ero, A., Hurtado, A., Garc\u00eda-P\u00e9rez, A.L., Nabuurs-Franssen, M.H., and Klaassen, C.H. (2012). Genotyping of Coxiella burnetii from domestic ruminants in northern Spain. BMC Vet. Res., 8.","DOI":"10.1186\/1746-6148-8-241"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"782","DOI":"10.1016\/j.micinf.2015.09.026","article-title":"Validation study for using lab-on-chip technology for Coxiella burnetii multi-locus-VNTR-analysis (MLVA) typing: Application for studying genotypic diversity of strains from domestic ruminants in France","volume":"17","author":"Prigent","year":"2015","journal-title":"Microbes Infect."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"340","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vetmic.2014.08.016","article-title":"Identification of Coxiella burnetii genotypes in Croatia using multi-locus VNTR analysis","volume":"173","author":"Galov","year":"2014","journal-title":"Vet. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"868","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijmm.2014.06.011","article-title":"Molecular analysis of Coxiella burnetii in Germany reveals evolution of unique clonal clusters","volume":"304","author":"Frangoulidis","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int. J. Med. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"142","DOI":"10.1016\/j.meegid.2016.12.015","article-title":"Molecular epidemiology of Coxiella burnetii in French livestock reveals the existence of three main genotype clusters and suggests species-specific associations as well as regional stability","volume":"48","author":"Bailly","year":"2017","journal-title":"Infect. Genet. Evol."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pearson, T., Hornstra, H.M., Hilsabeck, R., Gates, L.T., Olivas, S.M., Birdsell, D.M., Hall, C.M., German, S., Cook, J.M., and Seymour, M.L. (2014). High prevalence and two dominant host-specific genotypes of in U.S. milk. BMC Microbiol., 14.","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2180-14-41"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"668","DOI":"10.3201\/eid1704.101562","article-title":"Molecular epidemiology of Coxiella burnetii from ruminants in Q fever outbreak, the Netherlands","volume":"17","author":"Roest","year":"2011","journal-title":"Emerg. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_36","unstructured":"Janowetz, B., Schuhmacher, M., Alex, M., Domes, U., Rehmann, S., and B\u00f6ttcher, J. (2014, January 9\u201310). Immunologische Profile bei einer akuten Infektion mit Coxiella burnetii in einer Schafherde. Proceedings of the Gemeinsame Arbeitstagung des NRL f\u00fcr Chlamydiose, des NRL f\u00fcr Q-Fieber und der DVG-Fachgruppe f\u00fcr Bakteriologie und Mykologie, Jena, Germany."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Roest, H., van Gelderen, B., Dinkla, A., Frangoulidis, D., van Zijderveld, F., Rebel, J., and van Keulen, L. (2012). Q fever in pregnant goats: Pathogenesis and excretion of Coxiella burnetii. PLoS ONE, 7.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0048949"},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"127","DOI":"10.4081\/gh.2012.111","article-title":"Smooth incidence maps give valuable insight into Q fever outbreaks in the Netherlands","volume":"7","author":"Bom","year":"2012","journal-title":"Geospat. Health"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1016\/j.prevetmed.2015.11.004","article-title":"Analysis of Q fever in Dutch dairy goat herds and assessment of control measures by means of a transmission model","volume":"123","author":"Bontje","year":"2016","journal-title":"Prev. Vet. Med."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"423","DOI":"10.1051\/vetres:2003017","article-title":"Experimental Coxiella burnetii infection in pregnant goats: Excretion routes","volume":"34","author":"Souriau","year":"2003","journal-title":"Vet. Res."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1186\/s13567-017-0430-9","article-title":"Permissiveness of bovine epithelial cells from lung, intestine, placenta and udder for infection with Coxiella burnetii","volume":"48","author":"Sobotta","year":"2017","journal-title":"Vet. Res."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"90","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1749-6632.2009.04511.x","article-title":"Q fever in dairy animals","volume":"1166","author":"Rodolakis","year":"2009","journal-title":"Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"797","DOI":"10.1007\/s12223-020-00788-3","article-title":"A sporadic case of acute Q fever and identification of the animal source of the infection","volume":"65","author":"Medkour","year":"2020","journal-title":"Folia Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1652","DOI":"10.1128\/AEM.07323-11","article-title":"Detection of Coxiella burnetii DNA on small ruminant farms during a Q fever outbreak in the Netherlands","volume":"78","author":"Paauwe","year":"2012","journal-title":"Appl. Environ. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"519","DOI":"10.1111\/zph.12086","article-title":"A systematic review and meta-analysis of phase I inactivated vaccines to reduce shedding of Coxiella burnetii from sheep and goats from routes of public health importance","volume":"61","author":"Sargeant","year":"2014","journal-title":"Zoonoses Public Health"},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2653","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vaccine.2011.01.111","article-title":"Coxiella burnetii DNA in goat milk after vaccination with Coxevac\u00ae","volume":"29","author":"Hermans","year":"2011","journal-title":"Vaccine"},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"455","DOI":"10.1089\/cmb.2012.0021","article-title":"SPAdes: A new genome assembly algorithm and its applications to single-cell sequencing","volume":"19","author":"Bankevich","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Comput. Biol."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"22","DOI":"10.1186\/1944-3277-9-22","article-title":"Genome sequence of Coxiella burnetii strain Namibia","volume":"9","author":"Walter","year":"2014","journal-title":"Stand. Genom. Sci."},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Camacho, C., Coulouris, G., Avagyan, V., Ma, N., Papadopoulos, J., Bealer, K., and Madden, T.L. (2009). BLAST+: Architecture and applications. BMC Bioinform., 10.","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2105-10-421"},{"key":"ref_50","unstructured":"R Core Team (2020). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing, R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Available online: http:\/\/www.R-project.org\/."}],"container-title":["Pathogens"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-0817\/9\/8\/652\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T10:00:19Z","timestamp":1760176819000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-0817\/9\/8\/652"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,13]]},"references-count":50,"journal-issue":{"issue":"8","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,8]]}},"alternative-id":["pathogens9080652"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/pathogens9080652","relation":{},"ISSN":["2076-0817"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2076-0817","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,13]]}}}