Q Fever in the United States, 1948-1977

National Surveillance and the Epidemiology of Human Q Fever in the United States, 1978–2004

“…The states with the highest annual incidence (> 0.50 cases per million) included Idaho, Kentucky, North Dakota, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee, and Wyoming. Although California reported more cases than any other state in both the current surveillance summary and in previously published summaries, 10 when human population parameters are taken into account the state has only a moderate incidence of Q fever. Interestingly, urban centers such as the District of Columbia and New York City reported sporadic cases, despite having few opportunities for spread from ruminants.…”

“…The only previous summary to provide state-specific information on human Q fever infections reported numbers of cases occurring from 1948 to 1977, and did not report trends over time or epidemiologic features of disease. 10 The renewed interest in C. burnetii as a possible agent of bioterrorism has highlighted the need to more accurately understand the disease burden of Q fever in the United States, and prompted the current review of surveillance data from 1978 through 2004. 12 In this study, the average annual incidence for states reporting Q fever was calculated to be 0.28 cases per million persons, with state-specific incidence ranging from 0.0 to 2.40 cases per million persons per year.…”

“…The last national surveillance study that provided information on cases reported by states described 1,168 cases during 1948 through 1977 (average ‫ס‬ 39 per year). 10 Sporadic Q fever case reports and descriptions of outbreaks have been published, and when examined collectively, these suggest that sheep play an important role in the epidemiology of human Q fever infection in the United States. 11 However, widespread serologic evidence of infection in cattle suggests that the role of these animals in human infection may be under-appreciated.…”

Q Fever in the Southern California Desert: Epidemiology, Clinical Presentation and Treatment

“…22 Idaho is second only to California in reporting clinical cases of Q-fever in the United States. 23 However, as exemplified in this communication, a direct association with infected material often can not usually be incriminated.…”

Q fever

“…Between 1948 and 1977, a total of 1,168 cases of Q fever were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (mean, 58.4 cases/yr ; Fig 1). 48,a Most of these cases (67%) were reported from California, where the disease is endemic and there has traditionally been heightened interest in surveillance. Between 1978 and 1986, a total of 228 cases were reported nationally (mean, 28.5 cases/yr).…”