Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture conducted a Q Fever Surveillance Program on Saskatchewan bovine, ovine and caprine from 2020 to March 2023. The results indicated that Q fever is far from “rare” in Saskatchewan. Based on the surveillance results combined with the zoonotic risks to people, with veterinarians being at highest risk of exposure, the Ministry has made the decision to include Q Fever testing in their disease testing contract with PDS.
All Saskatchewan bovine/ovine/caprine placentas submitted to PDS will be tested for Coxiella burnetti (Q Fever) via PCR analysis. This testing will be done at no charge to Saskatchewan PDS clients.
Q-fever, although primarily a disease of ruminant animals (cattle, sheep, goats), can cause serious disease in people, including miscarriage, stillbirth, and pre-term delivery in pregnant women. There have been two incidents in 2019 where people have been known to be infected with Q-fever; as a result of these infections, there has been a significant increase in requests for Q-fever testing within both the human and animal health fields; see Cdn Journal of Veterinary research
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1255503/.
Image from: https://veteriankey.com/coxiellosis-and-q-fever/