Nearly 20 Years On, Dutch Cabinet Apologises to Q Fever Patients for Years of Missing Support
Dutch Health Minister Sophie Hermans apologised to Q fever patients on behalf of the cabinet on Friday, 9 October 2026, at a Q fever symposium held at the provincial government house in 's-Hertogenbosch. She said the government had given patients far too little support for years and had forced them to tell their story again and again, adding that she apologised for this from the bottom of her heart.
Hermans made clear the apology concerned the long absence of support and a safety net after the epidemic: many patients had been sent from pillar to post between care providers and agencies such as the UWV, and their condition had not been recognised. Patients present reacted with relief, while saying much remained to be done.
The Q fever epidemic ran from 2007 to 2010. The bacterium spread mainly through infected goats and sheep, with Noord-Brabant and Limburg hit hardest. Tens of thousands of people were infected and more than a hundred died. An estimated at least 1,500 people still live with long-term symptoms such as severe fatigue, pain and exhaustion, some of them classified as Q fever fatigue syndrome. Hermans is minister of Health, Welfare and Sport.
The National Ombudsman issued critical reports in 2012, 2017 and 2024 and called on the cabinet to apologise; successive ministers had declined to do so. In January this year a motion was tabled in the House of Representatives asking the government to offer official apologies to Q fever victims. Earlier, more than 300 patients sued the State in 2016; a court ruled in 2017 that the government had not acted unlawfully, and in 2018 some patients received a one-off payment of 15,000 euros.
The cabinet will make 2.5 million euros available to improve care and support for patients, including a personal guidance programme starting with the first 100 patients. The province of Noord-Brabant wants a Q fever expertise centre in the province, preferably at Bernhoven hospital in Uden; provincial health executive Saskia Boelema said too many patients still fall between the cracks of the institutions involved.
Q fever has not disappeared from the Netherlands: in April 2024 it was detected in animals at a dairy sheep farm in Brakel, the first such finding since 2016.
Sources: NOS and NU.nl, 9 October 2026; ANP wire reports carried by Skipr and others; Omroep Gelderland, 9 October 2026.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图片来源：Rahul Shaw / Wikimedia Commons（CC BY-SA 4.0）
