April 2010 No. 7 NEWSLETTER OF FEMS
FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN MICROBIOLOGICAL SOCIETIES
Q feverthe secret epidemic? Q fever was named as such because it was a mystery when first discovered in 1937 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. “Q” was primarily used for the word “query” but even when the bacterium that causes the disease was already determined, the name “Q fever” remained. This rare disease is caused by infection of the bacterium Coxiella burnetii. This organism may be found in cattle and other domestic animals. It is a disease of worldwide distribution, however, perceived to be very uncommon. Usually an occupational hazard for cattle workers, Q fever is seemingly living up to its name when it infected thou-
Didier Raoult, M.D., Ph.D. is a graduate of Marseille Medical School and performed internal medicine and infectious disease specialty training in the same institution. He received degrees in bacteriology, virology and parasitology and obtained his Ph.D. in microbiology at Montpellier, France. Currently, he is a full Professor at Marseille School of Medicine and is Director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory for the University Hospitals and President of the Universite de la Mediterranee. He is the co-founder of the European Study Group of Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, Coxiella (EUWOG) and the founder of the National Rickettsia Reference Center, WHO Collaborative Center, the largest laboratory in the world in the field of Rickettsial diseases. He participated in the first isolation of several bacteria and new Rickettsial diseases.
sands of residents in the Netherlands in 2009 and caused the death of six people. What started as a harmless and controlled outbreak in a small town called Herpen in 2007, led to the massive slaughter of goats at the end of 2009. FEMS Focus found these events important in the microbiological world. So we
Prof. Roel Coutinho studied medicine in Amsterdam. His early career included a period working in GuineaBissau and Senegal. On his return to the Netherlands, he opted to specialize in medical microbiology and in 1977 became head of the Amsterdam Public Health Department, where he pioneered cohort studies into HIV and Aids. He earned a PhD in 1984. In 1989 he was appointed Professor of Epidemiology and Infectious Disease Control at the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam. In 2000, Prof. Coutinho was appointed Director of the Amsterdam Municipal Health Services, and in 2005 he became director of RIVM’s Centre for Disease Control. Roel Coutinho has written or co-authored over five hundred scientific articles and is editor of the journal AIDS.
From the Editorial Team Spring is here. After the cold and dark winter days here in Europe, and in some occasions even devastating, everybody is excited to experience longer and warmer days. This means the sun is coming out, flowers are blooming and animals are giving birth. This also means a sudden burst of microbes in the air called Coxiella burnetii. Difficult to pronounce and harder to spell, this bacterium causes the Q fever outbreak every year in many countries, but in the Netherlands, the effects are simply overwhelming. Since the outbreak began in 2007, 10 farm workers have died, thousands have been sick and tens of thousands of goats slaughtered. In other countries, the Q fever is not special in any way. It is simply an annual phenomenon. But it seems to have stayed in the Netherlands for reasons yet to be discovered. If it remains uncontrolled, many more humans and animals might suffer. Clearly, the future is in the hands of microbiologists privy to the disease. Is Q fever a local outbreak that can invade Europe? That is what FEMS Focus will try to clarify in this issue. Tone Tønjum & Chared Verschuur Editors
took time to interview two experts in the field to put some light to the issue. Dr Didier Raoult is a leading infectious disease expert, co-founder of the European Study Group of Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, Coxiella and founder of the National Rickettsia Reference Center, WHO Collaborative Center, which is the largest laboratory in the world in the field of Rickettsial diseases. Prof Roel Coutinho is the Director of the Centre for Infectious Disease Control in the Netherlands, the government department dedicated to controlling the disease.