Suburban transmission of Q fever in French Guiana: evidence of a wild reservoir.

Jacques Gardon (1) , Jean-Michel Heraud (1) , Stéphane Laventure (1) , Aélis Ladam (1) , Philippe Capot (2) , Eric Fouquet (3) , Jacques Favre (4) , Sacha Weber (5) , Didier Hommel (6) , Alain Hulin (6) , Yves Couratte (2) , Antoine Talarmin (1)

1 Institut Pasteur de la Guyane
2 Service de Santé ́des Armée
3 Direction des Services Vétérinaires [Gyuane]
4 Service Vétérinaire Départemental
5 IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
6 Service de réanimation

The annual incidence of Q fever in French Guiana was found to have increased in 1996 and was 37/100,000 population over the last 4 years. Subsequent investigations in Cayenne and its suburbs indicated that a wild reservoir of the bacteria was responsible for the epidemiologic pattern. A case-control study showed that residence near a forest and occupations and activities that result in exposure to aerosols of dusts from the soil are risk factors for Q fever. By means of time-series analysis, a strong positive correlation between rainfall and the incidence of Q fever with a time lag of 1-3 months was found. The spatial distribution of the cases showed that transmission occurs widely throughout greater Cayenne, which is incompatible with a pinpoint source of contamination. Transmission from livestock and dissemination of the bacteria by the wind appeared to be unlikely, which strengthens the hypothesis that a wild reservoir is responsible for transmission.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Microbiology and Parasitology; Virology

Jacques Gardon, Jean-Michel Heraud, Stéphane Laventure, Aélis Ladam, Philippe Capot, et al.. Suburban transmission of Q fever in French Guiana: evidence of a wild reservoir.. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2001, 184 (3), pp.278-84. ⟨10.1086/322034⟩. ⟨pasteur-00607923⟩