Route of infection and reservoirs of the patients diagnosed as acute Q fever in Japan

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In this study we analyzed the profile of the 53 acut Q fever patients and 131 sero-positive patients to evaluate the route of infection and reservoir animals of Q fever patients in Japan. Except for several inported cases, most of the Q fever patients were considered as domestic cases. And all cases were considered as sporadic disease, not outbreak. History of direct contact with animals before onset of the disease were confirmed 40 of the 53 (75%) acute Q fever patients, and considered as major route of infection in Japan. Most of the suspected reservoir animals were mammals, such as dog, cat, and cattle, and in several cases birds were considered as reservoir. All of the bird-derived Q fever cases suffered pneumonia, while mammal derived Q fever cases suffered FUO, hepatitis, pneumonia. All of the casessurvived without severe complication. On the other hand, several patients had not any history of contact with animals before onset of the disease. In these cases, we could not find any other route of infection, such as ingestion the raw milk, or occupational exposure.