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Breaking News!
Q fever international stakeholders meeting 9PM Queensland time/AST Monday 31st March
Please use link below to participate!
Q fever international stakeholders meeting link
Q fever Symposium is coming!
Registration portal and Abstract portal now open!!
See links below
Byron Bay , June 14, 15 2025
Link to symposium page here
Link to German Q-fever collaboration (Q-GAPS)
As a step towards QFIG's aim of international collaborations, the link to Q-GAPS , the German Q fever collaboration, is here: https://q-gaps.de/en/
Q2030 Initiative launched!
On April 15th (2024) QFIG launched a new initative with aspirational goals for the year 2030
Please see the link on right
a webpage on ARRL and culture of C.burnettii from clinical cultures has been added.
See link on right.
QFIG Mission Statement
"To establish an Australia-wide registry of new Q fever cases and to follow each case, thus determining the natural history of the infection in Australia".
Locations of QFIG Members as of June 2022
Dedicated email address
As of October 2022, you may now contact QFIG via a generic email address : qfig@health.qld.gov.au
Preamble
Q fever is notified in approximately 400 – 600 persons per year in Australia. These cases predominate in the states of Queensland and New South Wales corresponding with areas where most cattle and sheep farming occurs, reflecting proximity and occupational exposure to these natural reservoirs.
An expert group of interested clinicians, microbiologists, public health physicians, veterinarians and researchers formed the Australian Q fever interest group (QFIG) on the 21st October 2021 in response to broad support for improved understanding of the natural history of the disease in the local context. Greater understanding is sought on geospatial and temporal differences including climate impacts, trends in potential exposure factors for those without traditional risk factors, proportion of cases and risk factors for progression to chronic Q fever or post Q fever fatigue syndrome, diagnostic markers for development of and therapeutic monitoring for chronic disease, and comparison with international data sets. QFIG aims to establish a prospective, longitudinal Australian Q Fever clinical registry for this purpose.
A proposal for establishment of an Australian Q Fever clinical registry
Steering committee as of June 2022:
Candice Holland, Robert Horvath, Stephen R. Graves, Jenny Robson, Sarah Coghill, Katherine Garnham,Penny Hutchinson, Nicolas Smoll
Methods:
An expressions of interest will be forwarded to the full QFIG membership to form a steering committee for the establishment of the Q Fever clinical registry. The registry will be designed according to the principles outlined in the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care’s (“the Commission”) framework for Australian clinical quality registries. An initial planning stage will be undertaken, with consideration of the components of the framework to be determined by the steering committee including development of a project plan, governance structures, registry design and datasets, analytics and reporting, quality improvement and an implementation strategy. On agreement of these critical core components, a business case for registry establishment will be developed and funding sources explored to ensure long term sustainability of the project.
The steering committee will establish the registry in line with national and jurisdictional regulatory and legislative requirements as outlined by the Commission. Ethics and governance approvals will be sought once the datasets are agreed upon and the business case is completed.
Results:
QFIG will aim to produce an annual summary of findings from the Q Fever registry in the form of a publicly available report.
Summary:
The establishment of a prospective clinical Q Fever registry in Australia will significantly advance the understanding of the natural history of Q Fever in the local Australian context. This will in turn enhance the understanding of non-classical risk factors and improve case detection, enable assessment of the population level impact of interventions and is anticipated to improve patient outcomes due to chronic sequelae of the disease.
Progress:
Over the coming weeks, we expect to advertise EOIs for committee and subcommitee members for various QFIG innovations including the registry above. Furher virtual meetings will be held when the information required is ready.
Phase 1: establishment of first commitees
EOIs closed September 14th.
QFIG Steering Commitee met September 19th to draw-up the initial commitees.
Applicants will be notified soon of the outcomes of their EOIs, and the initial committees are expected to commence this year.
We also expect further targeted commitees to be formed in near future
Also as an outcome of September 19th meeting, we expect to be commencing in October a monthly QFIG case discussion meeting.
These meetings will be 4PM Mondays EST. For referrals please either communicate directly with the steeering commitee members listed above , or use the ieq@health.qld.gov.au email address please.
QFIG members
Mark Armstrong (IDP/micro) QLD
Anushia Ashokan (IDP) SA
Eugene Athan (IDP/PH) VIC
Timothy Badrick (IDP/micro) QLD
Benjamin Bauer (vet) Germany
Sandra Baxendell (vet) QLD
Katrina Bosward (vet/micro U Syd) NSW
Cormac Carey (GP) QLD
Linda Chew (ID/micro) QLD
Rowland Cobbold (vet) QLD
Sarah Coghill (IDP) NSW
Kate Cook (trainee ACRRM) QLD
Janene Davies (AP) QLD
Janath De Silva (IDP) QLD
Andrew Dettrick (AP) QLD
Juliana Ding (trainee gen med) QLD
Jane Dyer (IDP/micro) QLD
Tony Ferris (GP) QLD
Simon Firestone (vet) VIC
Kate Garnham (IDP/micro) QLD
Rosie Geraghty (GP) QLD
David Godbolt (AP) QLD
Stephen Graves (Micro) Vic/NSW
Julian Harris (trainee ID) QLD
Jane Heller (Vet epi/PH Charles Sturt U) NSW
Stephanie Hendry (micro) QLD
Candice Holland (IDP/PH) QLD
Robert Horvath (IDP/micro) QLD
Penny Hutchinson (PH) QLD
Priya Janagaraj (ID/micro trainee) NSW
Caitlin Keighley (IDP/micro) NSW
Brendan Kennedy (IDP) SA
Karina Kennedy (ID/micro) ACT
Natkunam Ketheesan (biomed Sci UNE) NSW
Stephen Lambert (PH) QLD
Angus Lane (ID trainee) QLD
Debra Lee (workplace H &S advisor) QLD
Jonathan Lee (vet) QLD
Chrisoph Lehner (Obs) QLD
Muriel Lepester-Thompson (vet) VIC
Grace Leung (ID) NSW
Neelam Maheshwari (micro) QLD
Tonia Marquardt (PH) QLD
Matthew Masel (GP) QLD
Peter Massey (PH) NSW
Meryta May (Paeds IDP/micro) QLD
Magdalena Mausolf (ID) QLD
Eilish Moore (medical student) NSW
Renjy Nelson (IDP) SA
Sarah McLay (GP) QLD
Michael Nissen (IDP/micro/dir research) QLD
Robert Norton (IDP/micro) QLD
Maxwell Olensky (IDP) Vic
Kimberley Oman (IDP) QLD
Sharon Paull (IDP) QLD
Tatiana Proboste (vet spatial analysis UQ) QLD
Rudolf Reichel (vet) UK
Jenny Robson (micro SNP) QLD
Chaturaka Rodrigo (IDP + UNSW) NSW
Ashraf Saleh (GP) QLD
Jay Short (PH) QLD
Robyn Silcock (trainee Paeds-ID) QLD
Pirathaban Sivabalan (ID/micro) NSW
Simon Smith (IDP) QLD
Nicolas Smoll (PH) QLD
David Sowden (ID/micro) QLD
Jim Stewart (IDP/micro) QLD
Vichitra Sukumaran (IDP/micro) QLD
Alex Tai (IDP) VIC
Teddy Teo (IDP) SA
Ximena Tolosa (epi) QLD
Sarah Tozer (epi CEQ) QLD
Isaac Tranter (GP/PH) QLD
Debra van den Berg (PH) NSW
Nathan Walmsley (GP) QLD
Yong Shen Wee (cardiology) QLD
Kelly Wood (vet) NSW
John Woodford (PH) QLD
Ruth Zadoks (vet) NSW
Mei Zheng (vet/Syd Uni) NSW
QFIG NEWS
24th October 2022
1st QFIG MDT Case discussion
14th November 2022
1st QFIG full member meeting.
The 5 subcommittees of registry, CRF, lab study, guidelines and data-linkage discussed.
20th Feb 2023
QFIG Extraordinary announcement for enhanced PCR testing (mainly applies to QLD)
24-26 Feb 2023
QFIG advertised at RCPA update
30 March 2023
QFIG talk at Zoosig webinar
April 2023
QFIG advertised at ASID (Adelaide) and ECCMID (Copenhagen)
September 2023
QFIG talk and advertising at Queensland Forensic and Scientific Services.
QFIG tutorials at RVTS (rural vocational training scheme) Brisbane
October 2023
QFIG talk and QFIG advertising at RMA (Hobart/Nipaluna))
March 2024
RCPA Update (Adelaide)
Photo: L to R. R.Horvath, R.Norton, J.Robson, S.Graves.
We thank the RCPA for inviting us to talk about evolving laboratory diagnosis of Q fever.
In addition RCPA distributed a media release on " Q fever is under-diagnosed", which resulted in considerable media attention from rural news networks.
RCPA has been a fantastic supporter of QFIG and QFIG's first national endorser, for which we are eternally grateful!
April 2024
From April 15th, Q fever vaccine data will be able to be entered on the Australian Immunization Register (AIR), including the opportunity to upload the pre-vaccination (serology and skin test) data.
July 2024
Zoonoses 2024 (Sydney)
Clare Nourse spoke on Q fever in pregnancy
We thank Zoosig for the opportunities to promote Q fever
October 2024
QFIG advertised at ACE endocarditis symposium in Brisbane.
First public announcement of proposed Q fever Symposium at Byron Bay June 14-15 2025 !
Further announcements when Symposium is confirmed.
QGIF advertsing Q-gaps (German Q fever collaboration), as a first step towards international collaborations
Complex case EAG meetings
QFIG since October 2022 has been offering a monthly complex case Expert Advisory Group (EAG) meeting.
If you'd like to refer a case, please contact either qfig@health.qld.gov.au or individual QFIG Steering Commitee members.
These meetings generally take place on a Monday at 4PM EST, on a TEAMS platform.
Currently attendance is limited to EAG members, and participants involved in the care of the referred patient.
QFIG presentations at national and international meetings
2023
October
RMA Hobart
Robert Horvath "Q fever cases"
2024
March
RCPA Update Adelaide
Robert Horvath "evolving laboratory diagnosis of Q fever"
June
ASM (Microbiology) Brisbane
Stephen Graves "a new human vaccine against Q fever?"
Lucy O'Shannessy "Developing a quantitative three-dimensional bovine masmmary gland cell model using an automated, high-content confocal imaging platform to investigate Coxiella Burnettii pathogenesis".
Zoonoses Sydney
Claire Nourse "Q fever infection in pregnancy and the newborn".
July
American Society for Rickettsiology, Virginia
Karen Plain "Immunity in guinea pigs induced by a new Q-fever sub-unit vaccine based on the O-polysaccharide of virulent (phase 1) Coxiella burnettii"