People who work with animals - veterinarians, farmers, but also pregnant women, people with weakened immunity and patients with heart problems - are most at risk from Q (kju) fever.
The Institute for Public Health (IJZ) explains that kyu fever is usually asymptomatic, but can have a mild to severe and rarely fatal outcome.
The symptoms of Q fever usually appear two to three weeks after contact with the bacteria and are similar to the flu.
“It can include symptoms such as sudden headache, fever, muscle aches, fatigue, night sweats, weight loss, joint pain, nausea/vomiting. In some cases of the disease, pneumonia can also develop, and symptoms such as fatigue can last for a long time," the IJZ points out.
The bacterium that causes this disease is Coxiella burnetii, and it is transmitted from animals, mainly cattle, sheep and goats. The disease is transmitted through direct and indirect contact with infected animals and contaminated material. It is most often spread by inhalation of contaminated particles, as well as direct contact with contaminated meat, milk, wool and aerosols originating from animal excretions (urine, feces or fluids during childbirth).
"Direct transmission from an infected person to a healthy person is a very rare phenomenon (under normal circumstances, it practically does not exist). As for the risk of transmission through milk, it is practically non-existent if pasteurized or boiled milk is used. For the preparation of cheese, pasteurized milk should be used", according to the IJZ.
Treatment with antibiotics is said to usually shorten the duration of symptoms, while symptoms such as fever and pain can be alleviated with antipyretics and analgesics. There is no vaccine for this disease.
The IJZ explains that preventive measures against this disease include wearing protective equipment, frequent hand washing, vaccination of livestock, proper management of animal facilities, disinfection of contaminated areas, heat treatment of animal products, avoidance of raw milk and education of workers.
The IJZ announced that this infection is usually present in Montenegro, it occurs sporadically, and in the last ten years, 27 cases of kyu fever have been registered.
"Two cases were registered in June (one each from Podgorica and Bijelo Polje) and two in September (from Danilovgrad). The newly registered persons from September have a cattle farm and due to the nature of their work they were in close contact with sick animals. Considering that the most common way of transmission is through contaminated air particles, it is most likely that they got infected that way," said the IJZ.
Kew fever was confirmed in nine heads of cattle until September 11, the Administration for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Affairs announced. They explained that they are implementing all prescribed measures under the Law on Veterinary Medicine, an expert team was formed that drafted the Order for preventing the occurrence, detection, suppression and eradication of the infectious disease kyu fever in cattle, which was adopted by the line ministry on August 17. They claim that from June 1 to September 11, 785 head were tested on eight farms.
"The current serological findings confirm that in 203 cows there is a suspicion of the presence of the disease (positive serological finding - presence of antibodies), while in nine it was determined that the infection exists by a PCR test in milk and other secretions or tissue analysis," the Administration stated and clarified that 59 heads were euthanized in the same period.
The IJZ announced yesterday that, given that Q fever was discovered on several farms, it is to be expected that another case will be registered in the coming period, especially among farmers and veterinarians.
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