Q fever in South Australia: an outbreak in a meat-works

Abstract

This paper consists of an epidemiological study of 52 cases of Q fever occurring in metropolitan Adelaide in 1957 and also a description of the results of a survey of 516 sera obtained from abattoir workers.The only case occurring outside the abattoirs was a dairy farmer who probably became infected while visiting the abattoirs. If this were so the incubation period (35 days) of his disease would have been exceptionally long.The general features of the outbreak, which lasted several months, differed from those on the North American continent in that the latter occurred explosively within a few days with very high attack rates. The situation in the Adelaide abattoirs is similar to that in Brisbane, where the disease appears to be endemic. However, unlike in Adelaide, cases are commonly recognized outside the abattoirs in Brisbane.In the abattoirs the disease affected mainly inspectors, those working on killing beef, and those working on offal. Mutton workers were not so severely affected. However, all these groups had similar incidences of low titre antibodies suggesting that in the past Q fever spread equally in all killing departments. In departments not directly associated with slaughtering the incidence both of cases in 1957 and low titre antibodies was relatively small.It was suggested that the epidemiological features of Q fever in Adelaide could be explained by the irregular appearance of animals from infected herds situated perhaps in Queensland—a known endemic area. Perhaps the appearance of such animals in the Adelaide abattoirs might be governed by meteorological conditions such that they were prevented from going to the ordinarily most convenient slaughterhouse.