13 alpacas culled because of 'Q-fever'

(Xinhua/He Xiaohua)

13 alpacas were culled and destroyed by Beijing Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau after diagnosed with Elisa-type Q-fever. This is the first time that China has ever identified Q-fever from imported alpacas.

Alpacas get popular among people in China in the recent years. These 13 alpacas from Chile were diagnosed with Q-fever after taking blood routine examination during isolation.

There have been some reports about the booming business of alpaca overseas purchase. The CIQ has stressed that all imported alpacas should be isolated for 30 to 45 days and quarantined at the port-of-entry.

About Q-fever

According to medical information, Q-fever is a disease caused by infection of Coxiella burnetii, a bacterium that infects humans and other animals.

Zhang Shaoping, an official at CIQ, said humans as well as cattle, sheep, goats and other domestic mammals, including cats and dogs are generally susceptible to Q-fever. The infection results from inhalation of infectious aerosols, polluted dirt, and drinking the contaminated milk, or polluted water. Q-fever has high-rate of infection among animals.