Characterising the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Australian veterinarians regarding Q fever and the diagnosis and reporting of coxiellosis

Q fever is a serious zoonotic disease that readily transmits from animals to humans. Infection in animals is known as coxiellosis. Veterinarians are in a key position to provide early detection of coxiellosis in animals that can aid the prevention or recognition of human cases. However, there is little information available about veterinary ability and willingness to diagnose and report this disease in animals. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of veterinarians regarding coxiellosis. An online survey was performed that targeted veterinarians in Australia from 2020 to 2021 and 122 responses were obtained. Results showed that veterinarians report a moderate amount of knowledge about Q fever in humans but an overwhelming lack of confidence around recognising and diagnosing the disease in animals with 70-80% of respondents reporting that they were ‘not at all confident’ or ‘not very confident’. Most respondents (68%) believed that coxiellosis was an important infection in animals because of its human health consequences and 84% would report the infection if it were diagnosed. Barriers to diagnosis and reporting identified in this study include disease unfamiliarity, perception of disease insignificance, and futility of disease identification if there are no effective strategies in place for using diagnosis and notification of coxiellosis in controlling infection. Despite a deficit of self-reported knowledge and confidence regarding the diagnosis of coxiellosis, Australian veterinarians consider it to be an important zoonotic disease with implications for human health and are willing to collaborate with human health colleagues in a One Health approach around this issue.