Epidemiology of Coxiella burnetii infection in Africa: a OneHealth systematic review.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Q fever is a common cause of febrile illness and community-acquired pneumonia in resource-limited settings. Coxiella burnetii, the causative pathogen, is transmitted among varied host species, but the epidemiology of the organism in Africa is poorly understood. We conducted a systematic review of C. burnetii epidemiology in Africa from a "One Health" perspective to synthesize the published data and identify knowledge gaps.

Methods/principal findings

We searched nine databases to identify articles relevant to four key aspects of C. burnetii epidemiology in human and animal populations in Africa: infection prevalence; disease incidence; transmission risk factors; and infection control efforts. We identified 929 unique articles, 100 of which remained after full-text

SUBMITTER: Vanderburg S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3983093 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature