Q-fever is a worldwide spread zoonotic disease associated with severe illness in humans and abortions and stillbirths in ruminants. Ruminants are major sources of human infection where subclinical carriers shed the bacteria in various secretions and excreta. The goal of the current study was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of Coxiella burnetii infection among cattle, sheep, and goats in the eastern province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). A total of 1310 serum samples were collected through a designed cross-sectional study from private farms and slaughterhouses in the study area and examined against antibodies of C. burnetii using ELISA. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was built to detect risk factors of C. burnetii infection among examined species. The prevalence of C. burnetii infection among examined animals was 9.2% (CI, 7.7–10.8)—15.6%, 9.1%, and 5.8% among goats, cattle, and sheep, respectively). The risk of getting C. burnetii infection among old animals (> 1 year old) was 23 times higher than the risk among young animals (< 1 year old) (95% CI, 10.04–53.01; P < 0.01). Goats were 2.27 (95% CI, 1.41–3.66; P < 0.01) and 3 times at higher risk than cattle and sheep, respectively, of getting C. burnetii infection. In conclusion, C. burnetii infection is widespread among different ruminant species of the eastern province of KSA which represents a high risk for environmental contamination and disseminating the infection to humans and animal species in that area. Also, our findings may reflect the disease status in other countries of the Arabian Gulf area.

Q热是一种在世界范围内传播的人畜共患疾病，与人类的严重疾病以及反刍动物的流产和死产有关。反刍动物是人类感染的主要来源，其中亚临床携带者以各种分泌物和排泄物的形式释放细菌。本研究的目的是调查沙特阿拉伯王国（KSA）东部省份牛，羊和山羊中克氏杆菌感染的流行程度和危险因素。通过设计横断面研究，从研究区域的私人农场和屠宰场收集了总计1310份血清样品，并使用ELISA检查了伯氏梭菌的抗体。建立多元logistic回归分析来检测C的危险因素。被检查物种中的伯氏杆菌感染。C的患病率。在接受检查的动物中，burnetii感染率为9.2％（CI，7.7-10.8）—山羊，牛和绵羊分别为15.6％，9.1％和5.8％）。获得C的风险。老年动物（> 1岁）中的伯氏杆菌感染比年轻动物（<1岁）中的伯尼氏菌感染风险高23倍（95％CI，10.04-53.01；P  <0.01）。山羊 患C的风险分别是牛的2.27（95％CI，1.41-3.66；P <0.01）和牛和绵羊高3倍。伯尼氏杆菌感染。总之，伯氏梭菌感染在KSA东部省的不同反刍动物物种中普遍存在，这代表着环境污染和向该地区的人类和动物物种传播感染的高风险。同样，我们的发现可能反映出阿拉伯海湾地区其他国家的疾病状况。