Journal
ZOONOSES AND PUBLIC HEALTH
Volume 66, Issue 3, Pages 316-324Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/zph.12567
Keywords
Kenya; land management; livestock economy; Q fever; seroepidemiology; zoonosis
Funding
- Saint Louis Zoo Wild Care Institute Field Research for Conservation Grant [FRC 13-09]
- CGIAR Research Program for Agriculture for Nutrition and Health
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
- Department for International Development
- Economic & Social Research Council
- Medical Research Council
- Natural Environment Research Council
- Defense Science & Technology Laboratory, under the Zoonoses and Emerging Livestock Systems (ZELS) program [BB/L019019/1]
- University of Michigan (M-cubed program)
- University of Michigan (Graham Institute for Sustainability)
- University of Michigan (African Studies Center)
- University of Michigan (Institute for Research on Women and Gender Sister's fund)
- University of Michigan (School for Environment and Sustainability)
- BBSRC [BB/L019019/1] Funding Source: UKRI
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Coxiella burnetii, the causative agent of Query fever (Q fever), is among the most highly infectious zoonotic pathogens transmitted among livestock, with chronic effects challenging to veterinary and medical detection and care systems. Transmission among domestic livestock species can vary regionally due to herd management practices that determine which livestock species are raised, whether or not livestock are in contact with wildlife, and the susceptibility of these livestock to infection. To explore how different livestock management practices are associated with the risk of infection in multispecies environments, we carried out a comparative study of three types of herd management systems in the central Kenyan county of Laikipia: agro-commercial, mixed conservancy/commercial, and smallholder ranches. We tested C. burnetii antibody seroprevalence in four common livestock species. Across all management types, the highest seroprevalence was in camels (20%), followed by goats (18%), sheep (13%), and cattle (6%). We observed a lower odds of testing seropositive for young compared to adult animals (adjusted OR = 0.44 [95% CI 0.24, 0.76]), and for males compared to females (adjusted OR = 0.52 [95% CI 0.33, 0.80]). Animals from mixed conservancy/commercial and smallholder operations had a higher odds of testing seropositive compared to animals from agro-commercial ranches (adjusted OR = 5.17 [95% CI 2.71, 10.44] and adjusted OR = 2.21 [95% CI 1.17, 4.43] respectively). These data suggest that herd management practices might affect the transmission dynamics of C. burnetiiin arid African ecosystems like those seen in Kenya where several transmission modes are possible, risk of drought has promoted new livestock species such as camels, and multiple wildlife species may co-occur with livestock on the landscape. Further longitudinal studies are needed to disentangle the mechanisms underlying these patterns, and further explore transmission patterns between wildlife, domestic animal, and human populations.
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