A zoonotic cause of blood culture-negative infective endocarditis in Belgium: Case report and review of the literature on Q fever

Q fever is a worldwide zoonotic infection caused by Coxiella burnetii. In Belgium, the disease must be notified, and the incidence is low. Human contamination is mostly due to sheep and goats. Herein, we report a case of chronic Q fever presenting as a prolonged fever in a patient with a history of valve prosthesis. Blood culture-negative endocarditis was diagnosed through an assessment including echocardiography and systematic serological testing. Despite the absence of travel abroad or obvious contact with domestic or wildlife animals, C. burnetii phase I and phase II IgG antibody titers wer... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Van Noten Héloïse
Mori Marcella
Morissens Marielle
Maillart Evelyne
Leemans Sophie
Gvinda Doina
Channan El Mehdi
Clevenbergh Philippe
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
Reihe/Periodikum: IDCases, Vol 29, Iss , Pp e01595- (2022)
Verlag/Hrsg.: Elsevier
Schlagwörter: Blood culture-negative infective endocarditis / Coxiella burnetii / Chronic Q fever / Belgium / Pulmonary homograft / Infectious and parasitic diseases / RC109-216
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-28971808
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idcr.2022.e01595

Q fever is a worldwide zoonotic infection caused by Coxiella burnetii. In Belgium, the disease must be notified, and the incidence is low. Human contamination is mostly due to sheep and goats. Herein, we report a case of chronic Q fever presenting as a prolonged fever in a patient with a history of valve prosthesis. Blood culture-negative endocarditis was diagnosed through an assessment including echocardiography and systematic serological testing. Despite the absence of travel abroad or obvious contact with domestic or wildlife animals, C. burnetii phase I and phase II IgG antibody titers were > 1:8192, and polymerase chain reaction performed on blood was positive for C. burnetii. Genotypic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis of the pathogen strain identified a SNP-type 1 genomic group, which is associated with small ruminants in Belgium. The epidemiological investigation did not confirm the presence of positive C. burnetii cattle or sheep herds in the vicinity of the patient’s workplace and home, nor in the pest animals surrounding the workplace. Patients with risk factors for chronic Q fever should be tested for C. burnetii infection in case of prolonged fever of unknown origin, osteomyelitis, abscess or blood culture-negative endocarditis, even in the absence of direct exposure to animals.