Espí, AlbertoCerro, Ana delOleaga, AlvaroRodríguez Pérez, MercedesLópez Sández, Ceferino ManuelHurtado, AnaRodríguez Martínez, Luís D.Barandika, Jesús F.García Pérez, Ana L.2021-05-212021-05-212021Animals 2021, 11(5), 1395; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051395http://hdl.handle.net/10347/26259This study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of C. burnetii in domestic ruminants, wild ungulates, as well as the current situation of Q fever in humans in a small region in northwestern Spain where a close contact at the wildlife–livestock–human interface exists, and information on C. burnetii infection is scarce. Seroprevalence of C. burnetii was 8.4% in sheep, 18.4% in cattle, and 24.4% in goats. Real-time PCR analysis of environmental samples collected in 25 livestock farms detected Coxiella DNA in dust and/or aerosols collected in 20 of them. Analysis of sera from 327 wild ungulates revealed lower seroprevalence than that found in domestic ruminants, with 8.4% of Iberian red deer, 7.3% chamois, 6.9% fallow deer, 5.5% European wild boar and 3.5% of roe deer harboring antibodies to C. burnetii. Exposure to the pathogen in humans was determined by IFAT analysis of 1312 blood samples collected from patients admitted at healthcare centers with Q fever compatible symptoms, such as fever and/or pneumonia. Results showed that 15.9% of the patients had IFAT titers ≥ 1/128 suggestive of probable acute infection. This study is an example of a One Health approach with medical and veterinary institutions involved in investigating zoonotic diseaseseng© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Atribución 4.0 Internacionalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Q feverCoxiella burnetiiSeroprevalenceRuminantsWildlifeHumansDustAerosolsjournal article10.3390/ani110513952076-2615open access