Some 100 people who were infected with Q fever during the epidemic which started nine years ago are expected to attend court in The Hague on Monday for their case against the state.

Some 300 patient are suing the government for failing to take action to protect farm workers and keeping quiet about the risks associated with the disease.

‘I lost my job and I am still not fit,’ victim Bert Brunninkhuis told broadcaster NOS. He and other patients are also angry that farmers have been helped financially but patients have been ignored.

The Q fever epidemic which hit the Netherlands in 2007 and ended in 2011 left 74 people dead, the official foundation supporting victims of the disease said earlier this year.

The sheep and goat disease epidemic cost the Netherlands between €161m and €336m, according to a report drawn up for Noord-Brabant province at the time.

Q fever was a serious problem on Dutch goat farms, mainly in Brabant, between 2007 and 2011. Over 40,000 goats were killed in an effort to eradicate the disease