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Q fever, caused by Coxiella burnetii, is a zoonosis whose main reservoirs are domestic ruminants (cattle, sheep, goats). The contribution of cattle to the risk of transmission to humans remains uncertain as previous studies in humans have mostly been carried out in areas with both cattle and small ruminants, the latter being systematically involved in Q fever epidemics. In two departments of western France, characterised by a high frequency of infection in cattle and a very low density of small ruminants, the prevalence of seropositivity measured in humans shows the circulation of Coxiella even in the absence of small ruminants: 56% of dairy farmers, 89% of veterinarians, and 13% of the general adult population were antibody carriers. This risk was primarily occupational, linked to an activity in contact with cattle for the general population and to keeping an infected herd for the farmers, to the exclusion of any other factor. It is therefore necessary to make doctors aware of the symptoms of Q fever and the importance of general biosecurity measures to control the risk of human infection by cattle, particularly for people at risk due to their occupational exposure.

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