First report of bovine Q‐fever in north‐eastern Italy: preliminary results

In May 2007 in a dairy farm of 77 bovines (42 milking cows), six cows suffering from infertility ⁄ abortion problems were tested for the possible infective cause. Serological tests for Qfever revealed four out of six cows positive by ELISA and two positive by the complement fixation test (CFT), with titres of 1 : 64 and 1 : 128. Following these results, individual samples of serum, vaginal swabs, faeces and milk were collected from the whole herd and tested for the presence of Coxiella burnetii.