Farmers' knowledge of Q fever and prevention approaches in New South Wales

Objective: To identify what New South Wales (NSW) farmers know about Q fever to inform preventive approaches.

Design: Thematic analysis of qualitative data gathered through semi-structured individual interviews, focus groups and a community meeting.

Setting: Rural communities in NSW, Australia.

Participants: A total of 25 farmers participated in individual interviews (n = 4) or three focus groups, each with seven participants (n = 21). A further 27 persons, were involved in a community meeting.

Main outcome measures: Themes derived from the interviews, focus groups and community meeting.

Results: Knowledge variations regarding Q fever risk and transmission highlight a need for improved risk communication. Vaccination was viewed as the preferred prevention approach; barriers were raised including time, costs, access to screening/vaccination and General Practitioner (GP) knowledge about Q fever. Local vaccination initiatives were supported.

Conclusions: Strengthening existing GP knowledge and services leading to expanded provision of screening/vaccination could improve the coverage of Q fever vaccine in endemic NSW farming and rural communities.