Doctors at a special Q-fever clinic in the southern Dutch city of Den Bosch have called for high-risk groups to be vaccinated against the disease.

They want caretaker Health Minister Ab Klink to quicken up the process of bringing the vaccine into use in the Netherlands. The Dutch Health Council is currently testing the vaccine.

It has been used in Australia to inoculate people working on sheep farms and abattoirs for ten years. Since its introduction, the number of cases has halved.

The doctors in Den Bosch want the vaccine to be given to two groups of heart patients who are more likely to develop chronic Q-fever.

At the moment doctors can only prescribe antibiotics to patients, but there are strong doubts about whether this therapy is effective.