About half of Australian cases of Q fever occur in Queensland, with around 9 people affected each year per 100,000 people. This can be as high as 200 per 100,000 people in some rural shires. Q fever is one of the most common diseases that humans contract from animals.
Q fever bacterium can be carried by a variety of domestic and wild animals, especially cattle, sheep, goats, bandicoots, kangaroos and wallabies. Clinical disease is not common in domestic livestock, but animals are a source of infection for people.