What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to analyze the seroprevalence of Q fever in humans and animals across East Africa, highlighting its public health implications.

April 5, 2026Open Access

Seroprevalence of Q fever among humans and animals in East Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Puntos clave

This research aims to analyze the seroprevalence of Q fever in humans and animals across East Africa, highlighting its public health implications.
Conducted systematic review and meta-analysis following PRISMA guidelines.
Retrieved articles from multiple databases, focusing on studies published between 2000 and 2025.
Identified 47 articles with 94 species-specific datasets for analysis.
Utilized random effects model for pooled seroprevalence estimation after assessing heterogeneity.
Performed trim-and-fill analysis to evaluate publication bias.
Pooled Q fever seroprevalence estimated at 21.32% in humans and 27.55% in animals.
Publication bias reduced seroprevalence estimates to 6.98% in humans and 8.46% in animals.
Higher seroprevalence noted in humans from Kenya and Ethiopia.
Among animals, camels showed a 38.9% seroprevalence while cattle had 14.6%.
Increased trend in human seroprevalence observed over time.

Resumen

Q fever is a neglected zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii with a global distribution. It has a significant public health implication in resource-limited settings. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis were designed to comprehensively analyze the seroprevalence of Q fever in humans and animals in East Africa. Following the PRISMA guidelines and a registered protocol on PROSPERO (CRD420251149865), online searches were conducted in Pubmed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and AJOL from October 1–5, 2025, to retrieve articles from the East African countries published within the time frame of January 1, 2000 and September 30, 2025. This systematic review and meta-analysis identified 47 articles reporting Q fever seroprevalence across multiple animal species and human, yielding 94 species-specific datasets for pooled analysis. After heterogeneity assessment, random effects model was used to estimate the pooled Q fever seroprevalence. The estimated pooled seroprevalence was 21.32% (95% CI: 14.58; 28.06) among humans and 27.55% (95% CI: 22.34; 32.77) in animals. Trim-and-fill analysis revealed substantial publication bias, reducing pooled seroprevalence from 27.55% to 8.46% in animals and from 21.35% to 6.98% in humans. The seroprevalence in humans was higher in Kenya (26.0%) and Ethiopia (24.7%) than in Sudan (18.0%), Tanzania (14.9%), and Uganda (7.6%). The multivariable meta-regression revealed a significant increasing trend in human Q fever seroprevalence over time, despite marginal non-significance in univariable analysis. Among animals, the seroprevalence was higher in camels (38.9%) and lower in cattle (14.6%), with observed statistically significant difference. This meta-analysis result showed that the seroprevalence of Q fever is high in humans and animals, but it is still neglected in many countries in the East Africa, posing significant impact to human and animal health. Planned preventive measures and control efforts are necessary.

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