Recommendation on the risk of Q fever related to manure

Q fever is distributed in a number of ways, one of which is through inhalation of particles of manure from infected animals kept in deep litter houses. In the lambing season farms with more than 50 dairy goats or sheep are obliged to work the manure into the soil themselves or hire a company to do so or to compost it on site. Not all farms are able to meet this obligation, however. Alternative forms of processing, such as industrial composting or gasification are not allowed under current legislation.

Composting is a manure fermentation process that kills bacteria as temperatures rise. Exact levels of Coxiella in the manure and how effectively they are killed in the standard fermentation process cannot be determined to date but will be assessed as soon as possible. A comparison between traditional and industrial composting processes shows that their effectiveness is basically similar and that pasteurisation can compensate for the small difference. 

The Director of the Risk Assessment Bureau has based this recommendation on a risk assessment, permitting the transport of dairy goats and sheep manure from farms free from Q fever to industrial composters, provided that pasteurisation is made part of the process.

Manure from farms where Q fever has been confirmed is expected to contain high levels of Coxiella and may therefore contribute to spreading this disease. For this reason, this manure must be sterilised or incinerated. 
The Director also recommends a study to be carried out into levels of bacteria found in deep litter house manure and the specific temperature/timeframes for killing any Coxiella burnetii present.