There are calls to reinstate a national Q Fever program which subsidised vaccinations around 15 years ago.
ABC
The Federal Government is resisting calls to fund a national Q fever program, including subsidising vaccinations.
Audio Q fever: you could have it and not even know
South Australian and Queensland farmer groups have called for the Government to reintroduce vaccination subsidies for the debilitating disease, which can be transmitted to humans from cattle and sheep.
A spokesman for Health Minister Sussan Ley, said Q fever numbers have not changed since last year and at this point there was no reason to subsidise vaccinations.
But Dr Stephan Van Eedan, who has administered over 400 Q Fever vaccinations, said because the disease mainly affects people in rural communities, health authorities may be underestimating its incidence.
“I think it will make it hard to gauge what the true incidence is,” he said.
“I think if you use only confirmed laboratory results as your indicator of the incidence, then you might be underestimating it.”
Q fever or ‘Query fever’ is an illness caused by bacteria carried by animals and its symptoms can range from none, to hugely debilitating, and can even result in death.
If you use only confirmed laboratory results as your indicator of the incidence [of Q fever] then you might be underestimating it.
Audio Millicent Medical Group GP Dr Stephan Van Eedan discusses a lack of education around the disease Q Fever
It is a disease so serious it is a Class B biological warfare threat.
Interest in the infectious fever was spurred on by a Landline program earlier this year called The Quiet Curse.
A Queensland Health fact sheet said most sufferers make a full recovery from Q fever, however 10 to 20 per cent of people can experience further complications from the disease.
The director of the Darling Downs Public Health Unit, Dr Penny Hutchinson, said the symptoms are not unlike the ‘flu.
“It can appear like an influenza type illness, although it can have significant complications, people can end up in intensive care or we’ve had cases where people have developed renal failure from it.”
Dr Hutchinson said many animals carry the bacteria and it is not just limited to cattle and sheep as often thought, but also native animals like kangaroos and even includes animals like camels, goats, birds, dogs, and cats.
The disease is spread when people inhale the bacteria which persists in the environment but Dr Hutchinson added people can ingest it in other ways.
“Ingestion can occur and that’s usually with people who drink unpasteurised milk because the Q Fever can be spread though milk.”
People’s experience with Q fever is varied and one recent sufferer to share his story is Greg Marsh is from Warwick, in Southern Queensland.
After watching that Landline thing, holy smokes that scared me … I didn’t realise how infectious it was.
Photo A dry fracture of a Vero cell exposing the contents of a vacuole where Coxiella burnetii are busy growing.
Mr Marsh is a former abattoir worker who was diagnosed with Q fever whilst still working in the meat processing industry.
The former meat worker said he was a young man and newly married when he got sick and said it was a scary time before he knew what was wrong.
“I don’t remember a lot of it because my wife actually had to nurse me because you’re hot and cold, you’re coming in and out and it’s about the third day when you’re in bed that you actually go and see a doctor,” he said.
“Your wife tumbles you into a car and drives you into the doctor because she’s so worried and concerned that you’re going to die on her.
“After watching that Landline thing, holy smokes that scared me … I didn’t realise how infectious it was.”
The Southern Queensland Q fever sufferer said he hoped the Federal Government would consider subsidised vaccinations.
“Really think of how much lost time and how much suffering from something that really is preventable.”
Another presentation of Q fever is Michael Allpass who is the sheep and wool policy director with the Queensland rural lobby group AgForce.
Mr Allpass said he only found out he was infected when he was working in Charleville and went to get tested as part of the subsidised national Q fever program a decade ago.
“I didn’t even know I had it,” he said.
“I jackarooed in the 1990’s in the sheep industry and it wasn’t until 2003, I was part of the finance industry at the time, I was working with a corporate and all of their employees out west were asked to go through the screening process and that’s where I found out that I actually had it.”
Mr Allpass said he believed there was a big gap in knowledge about Q fever and that AgForce is calling for a nation-wide awareness campaign, as well as renewing funding for vaccinations.
“We don’t know the extent of the problem, because a lot of people have considered the cost to be too prohibitive to go and get tested and therefore vaccinated, so I think we don’t really understand the extent of the problem,” he said.
“So put an awareness program together, subsidise the vaccination scheme and get more people vaccinated and potentially reduce the risk of significant financial loss to the industry.”
It is extremely hard to gauge the number of people with Q fever in Australia, but there is a Q fever register, which records the number of people immune to the disease (either diagnosed with Q fever or vaccinated) which commenced in 2001.
Today the register has a total of 133, 171 individuals on the list; Queensland is by far the state with the largest number of registrations, but it is by no means conclusive because it is not compulsory to be on the register.
When you look at the incidence of the condition, it’s time for another look at the refunding of a program similar to that which occurred with the Federal Government 15 years ago.
Audio Hamilton Medical Group GP, Dr Dayle Ford a GP talks about the effect of Q Fever
A doctor responsible for administering Q fever vaccinations in South Australia is fully supportive Livstock SA’s call for the Federal Government to re-fund a Q fever immunisation program.
Livestock SA has publicly asked for a National Q fever program to be funded; including the subsidisation of vaccinations.
Dr Dayle Ford, a GP at the Hamilton Medical Group, said the disease has a huge impact on the people it effects and it’s about time a national program was reinstated.
“I think that it’s time, when you look at the incidence of the condition, it’s time for another look at the refunding of the program very similar that occurred with the Federal Government now 15 years ago.”
Dr Ford said while the numbers of Q fever incidents are hard to convey it has a large effect.
“I think this is a disease that although has a low incidence, it does have a high impact, so that if people are to catch this particular disease it is rather serious and has serious consequences.”