Q-fever victims to sue government for compensation

Some 400 people who became infected with the sheep and goat disease Q-fever during the recent epidemic are planning to sue the government for damages, lawyer Luc Rohof told television show Nieuwsuur.

Nieuwsuur also accuses ministers of misinforming parliament about the epidemic, which killed at least 25 people.
Brabant health chief Jos van de Sande told the programme: ‘The cabinet is trying to keep its street clean but the problems keep on piling up.’
The cabinet has set aside €10m to support people who became ill, but is not willing to set up a compensation fund, despite serious criticism of its position from the national ombudsman about the way it handled the epidemic.
Chronic conditions
Hundreds of people are said to still have chronic health problems since the outbreak which ended two years ago. Q-fever was a serious problem on Dutch goat farms between 2007 and 2010. Over 40,000 goats were killed in an effort to eradicate the disease.
The national ombudsman Alex Brenninkmeijer said last month the government had failed to take the outbreak seriously and was too slow to react. He also said ministers should apologise to victims and pay them reasonable compensation.
In February, it emerged a number of victims are also in the process of suing the goat farms where they became infected.