A virus called goat flu, or Q-fever, has appeared in the Netherlands, raising concerns over the possibility of an outbreak of a new global pandemic while the world is still trying to curb swine flu that has killed thousands, press reports said Wednesday.
More than 2,300 people have been infected with goat flu in the European country and six people have died since last week, according to online news sources.
Holland's Ministry of Agriculture has confirmed that the new virus was found in between 55 and 350 farms and two of the most affected cities are Eindhoven and Tilburg.
More dangerous virus
Nevertheless, there is no need for people to panic as the goat flu can be treated through traditional antibiotics, especially with the early diagnosis, and there are very high rates of full-recovery from the virus
Dutch experts say Q-fever is caused by a bacteria called Coxiella burnetii that is released when pregnant goats or sheep have spontaneous abortions.
A relative study shows that many animals can carry this kind of bacteria but contact with infected goats is believed to be the main source of human infection.
Egyptian digestive system consultant, Dr. Mohammed Menessi, told Al Arabiya that no cases have been reported in the Arab world yet, but he warned that the new goat flu virus was more dangerous than the H1N1, especially for pregnant women.
"Nevertheless, there is no need for people to panic as the goat flu can be treated through traditional antibiotics, especially with the early diagnosis, and there are very high rates of full-recovery from the virus," he said.
Menessi explained that the new virus is not transmitted among humans, but it is transmitted from animals to humans. "All health precautions applied to avoid contracting swine flu should be applied to avoid infection with goat flu. Farmers, in specific, should avoid close contacts with their sheep and goats."
The Dutch Government is concerned about the impact of the epidemic and is planning to destroy hundreds of thousands of goats and sheep that may be infected by the virus.
"There's nowhere external to turn to for expert advice, because it's a unique situation," said the government spokesman Thijs Van Son.
Q-fever
There's nowhere external to turn to for expert advice, because it's a unique situation
Q-fever infections usually occur in a cluster in one year and then peter out the next. But the Dutch outbreak has been growing and spreading out over agricultural areas for three years despite increasingly strong measures to contain it.
"That hasn't happened before," Van Son said, "not in Europe or anywhere else."
He said that so far the outbreak is not known to have spread to neighboring Germany or Belgium.
Van Son said one theory as to why the outbreak has been so severe in the Netherlands is the large numbers of animals per farm, combined with the density of the Dutch human population, which is one of the highest in the world.
The Dutch government is researching whether an Australian human vaccine not yet approved in Europe could be used in the Netherlands.
The symptoms of the new flu virus resemble those of flu, and include severe headaches, shivers and perspiration, aching muscles, sickness and diarrhea and a slow pulse rate.
The acute variant of the disease lasts for up to two weeks, but there is also a chronic variant, which may last two years, with fatigue being the main symptom.
So far there have been no recorded cases of transmission of the infection from person to person.
(Translated from Arabic by Abeer Tayel)
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