Is there a higher risk of exposure to Coxiella burnetii for pre-clinical veterinary students?

Coxiella burnetii is globally distributed but evidence of zoonotic transmission in the Caribbean region is scarce. The bacterium presence is suspected on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts. The risk of exposure of veterinary students was reported in other regions of the world but is not documented in the Caribbean region. The present study aimed to evaluate the risk of exposure to C. burnetii for pre-clinical veterinary students (mostly coming from the U.S.) attending an island-based veterinary school. A cross-sectional study was conducted to compare incoming and outgoing veterinary students' seroprevalence. Serology was performed using indirect immunofluorescence assay to test Coxiella burnetii Phase I and Phase II immunoglobulins M and G. Background data were gathered using a standardized questionnaire. A parallel study enrolled veterinary school employees in the same university. Of the 98 participants (48 incoming and 50 outgoing students), 41 (41.8%, 95 %CI: 31.9-52.2) were seropositive to C. burnetii. There was no significant difference between the two groups (45.8% for incoming vs. 38.0% for outgoing students) (p = 0.4). No risk factors (demographic, animal handling practices or background) were significantly more reported in the seropositive group. In the employee study, the seroprevalence was high with 8/15 seropositives (53.3%, 95 %CI: 26.6-78.7). Pre-clinical veterinary students do not have a higher risk of exposure to C. burnetii by attending the veterinary school in St. Kitts, but they are highly exposed before arrival on the island (seroprevalence of 45.8%). Most of these participants had experience with animals either through farming or previous veterinary technician employment. This indicates a high exposure in the U.S. young population aiming to become veterinarians. There is an urgent need to increase C. burnetii surveillance in animals and humans to apply relevant prevention and control measures, including recommendations for vaccination of students and professionals at risk.

A tool for rapid assessment of wildlife markets in the Asia-Pacific Region for risk of future zoonotic disease outbreaks.

Decades of warnings that the trade and consumption of wildlife could result in serious zoonotic pandemics have gone largely unheeded. Now the world is ravaged by COVID-19, with tremendous loss of life, economic and societal disruption, and dire predictions of more destructive and frequent pandemics. There are now calls to tightly regulate and even enact complete wildlife trade bans, while others call for more nuanced approaches since many rural communities rely on wildlife for sustenance. Given pressures from political and societal drivers and resource limitations to enforcing bans, increased regulation is a more likely outcome rather than broad bans. But imposition of tight regulations will require monitoring and assessing trade situations for zoonotic risks. We present a tool for relevant stakeholders, including government authorities in the public health and wildlife sectors, to assess wildlife trade situations for risks of potentially serious zoonoses in order to inform policies to tightly regulate and control the trade, much of which is illegal in most countries. The tool is based on available knowledge of different wildlife taxa traded in the Asia-Pacific Region and known to carry highly virulent and transmissible viruses combined with relative risks associated with different broad categories of market types and trade chains.