Epidemiology of Q fever in Iran: A systematic review and meta?analysis for estimating serological and molecular prevalence

Journal of Research in Medical Sciences1735-1995221120171203Epidemiology of Q fever in Iran: A systematic review and meta?analysis for estimating serological and molecular prevalence1072210722EN20171115Background: Q fever is endemic in Iran, thus, we conducted a systematic review and meta?analysis on epidemiology of Coxiella <table class="NormalTable"><tbody><tr><td width="550">burnetii among humans and animals in Iran. Materials and Methods: A systematic search was performed to identify all articles reporting C. burnetii prevalence in Iranian humans or animals, published from January 2000 to January 2015. Data from articles were extracted, and a pooled estimate of prevalence with corresponding 95% confdence interval (CI) was calculated using random e?ect method. Results: In this review, 27 papers were identifed. Te pooled seroprevalence of Q fever in animals was 27% (CI 95%: 23%–32%). Te prevalence was 33% (CI 95%: 22%–45%) in goats, 27% (CI 95%: 21%–32%) in sheep, and 17% (CI 95%: 5%–28%) in cattle. Te bacterial DNA was detected in 5% (95% CI: 3%–9%) of milk samples, and it was higher in cattle (10%; 95% CI: 6%–16%) than sheep (2%; 95% CI: 0–7%) and goats (4%; 95% CI: 0–12%). Conclusions: C. burnetii DNA or its antibody has been frequently detected among ruminants. Since these animals can transmit the infection to humans, Q fever could be a potential health problem in Iran. </td></tr></tbody></table> <br style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />http://jrms.mui.ac.ir/index.php/jrms/article/view/10722http://jrms.mui.ac.ir/index.php/jrms/article/download/10722/5573