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

在这项研究中，我们分析了53例急性Q热患者和131例血清阳性患者的资料，以评估日本Q热患者的感染途径和宿主动物。除少数输入病例外，大部分Q热患者被认为是国内病例。所有病例均被认为是散发性疾病，而不是暴发。在发病前与动物直接接触史的53例急性Q热患者中，有40例（75%）被证实，并被认为是日本的主要感染途径。大多数疑似水库动物是哺乳动物，如狗、猫和牛，在一些情况下，鸟类被认为是水库。禽源性Q热病例均合并肺炎，而哺乳动物源性Q热病例合并发热、肝炎、肺炎。所有病例均存活，无严重并发症。另一方面，有数名病人在发病前并无与动物接触的纪录。在这些病例中，我们无法找到任何其他感染途径，例如摄入生奶或职业暴露。

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.