Abstract
Q-fever is a worldwide spread zoonotic disease associated with severe illness in humans and abortions and stillbirths in ruminants. Ruminants are major sources of human infection where subclinical carriers shed the bacteria in various secretions and excreta. The goal of the current study was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of
Coxiella burnetii
infection among cattle, sheep, and goats in the eastern province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). A total of 1310 serum samples were collected through a designed cross-sectional study from private farms and slaughterhouses in the study area and examined against antibodies of
C. burnetii
using ELISA. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was built to detect risk factors of
C
.
burnetii
infection among examined species. The prevalence of
C
.
burnetii
infection among examined animals was 9.2% (CI, 7.7–10.8)—15.6%, 9.1%, and 5.8% among goats, cattle, and sheep, respectively). The risk of getting
C
.
burnetii
infection among old animals (> 1 year old) was 23 times higher than the risk among young animals (< 1 year old) (95% CI, 10.04–53.01;
P
< 0.01). Goats were 2.27 (95% CI, 1.41–3.66;
P
< 0.01) and 3 times at higher risk than cattle and sheep, respectively, of getting
C
.
burnetii
infection. In conclusion,
C. burnetii
infection is widespread among different ruminant species of the eastern province of KSA which represents a high risk for environmental contamination and disseminating the infection to humans and animal species in that area. Also, our findings may reflect the disease status in other countries of the Arabian Gulf area.