The government has announced a string of measures to combat Q fever, a sheep and goat disease which has killed six people in the Netherlands.

All infected sheep and goats on farms where animals have been vaccinated are to be slaughtered, as are all pregnant goats and sheep on other farms where Q fever is identified.
Ministers announced the measures at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, following mounting pressure from animal health experts to take action. The cull will begin ‘as soon as possible’, farm minister Gerda Verburg said. She could not say how many animals are involved but farming organisation LTO estimated between 15,000 and 20,000 wil be killed, mainly goats.
The bacteria which leads to Q fever is released when infected sheep and goats have miscarriages and spreads easily, the Telegraaf reports.
Human contact
By the end of November, some 2,300 people had developed Q fever and six had died, all of whom had other health problems.
Q fever was relatively unknown in humans prior to 2007. The disease leads to flu-like symptoms in adults but can cause lung and heart problems.
Roel Coutinho, director of the public health institute RIVM, told Trouw earlier this week the epidemic may well be due to the launch of an intensive goat farming industry in the Netherlands. In 1995, there were 7,600 goats in the Netherlands and now there are over 350,000, the paper quoted him as saying.