{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,23]],"date-time":"2026-08-23T15:06:01Z","timestamp":1787497561477,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,31]],"date-time":"2025-03-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1743379200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Red Meat Research and Development, South Africa (RMRD-SA)","award":["THRIP\/23\/30\/11\/2017"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["THRIP\/23\/30\/11\/2017"]}]},{"name":"Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC)","award":["THRIP\/23\/30\/11\/2017"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["THRIP\/23\/30\/11\/2017"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Veterinary Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Query fever (Q fever) causes huge economic and agricultural losses through congenital effects such as late abortions, stillbirths, and dead or weak offspring in infected livestock and wildlife. Due to limited data on Q fever in small ruminants (sheep and goats) in South Africa, this cross-sectional study aimed to determine the sero- and molecular prevalence of C. burnetii in small ruminants in farms of the North West province. Testing using ELISA showed a 33.96% seropositivity with no significant risk factors. Molecular detection using PCR showed a 61.11% frequency of detection, with higher detection in goats (36.51%) than in sheep (24.60%). There were significant differences in C. burnetii PCR detection between seasons of the year (p = 0.001). Sequence analysis of PCR products showed similarity to the C. burnetii transposase gene, validating the PCR results. A fair correlation between the ELISA and PCR results was observed, suggesting agreement between serology and PCR detection. This study also shows a high prevalence of C. burnetii by both serology and PCR on farms in the North West province of South Africa. As such, extension of such surveillance programs to other provinces in South Africa, as well as inclusion of C. burnetii detection tests, to resolve abortion or stillbirth cases, need to be considered.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/vetsci12040315","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,31]],"date-time":"2025-03-31T08:48:00Z","timestamp":1743410880000},"page":"315","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Coxiella burnetii (Q Fever) in Small Ruminants on Farms in North West Province, South Africa"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0682-5471","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Katleho N.","family":"Mosikidi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North West University, Mafikeng 2735, South Africa"},{"name":"Agricultural Research Council\u2014Bacteriology Laboratory, Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Private Bag X 05, Onderstepoort, Pretoria 0110, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nthabiseng Malekoba","family":"Mphuthi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North West University, Mafikeng 2735, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maruping L.","family":"Mangena","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Agricultural Research Council\u2014Vaccines and Diagnostic Development Programme, Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Private Bag X 05, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5683-7887","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"David D.","family":"Lazarus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Nigeria), Abuja 900001, Nigeria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohammed","family":"Sirdar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Society for Infectious Diseases, 867 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nomakorinte","family":"Gcebe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Agricultural Research Council\u2014Bacteriology Laboratory, Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Private Bag X 05, Onderstepoort, Pretoria 0110, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sireci, G., Badami, G.D., Di Liberto, D., Blanda, V., Grippi, F., Di Paola, L., Guercio, A., de la Fuente, J., and Torina, A. 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