![AWARD: NSW Farmers Guyra branch members Mark Donovan, Jenni Jackson and Callan Schaefer at the conference; the branch won an award for an innovative event it held last year. AWARD: NSW Farmers Guyra branch members Mark Donovan, Jenni Jackson and Callan Schaefer at the conference; the branch won an award for an innovative event it held last year.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Gh2LLJN5ZAAiRUxkHxKdH7/65867c39-ce7b-4ad8-818c-670efa346b17.jpg/r0_0_2592_1457_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The Guyra branch of NSW Farmers has been honoured at the state body’s annual conference for its efforts against Q fever.
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The branch received the award for the most innovative event or activity, for its war against the infection through a series of clinics run with Guyra Medical Centre.
Branch chairman Callan Schaefer said it was great to be recognised but even better to make a difference to people in the area.
“[Q fever is] a big problem at the moment in the Guyra region,” he said.
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“[Branch vice-chairwoman] Jenni Jackson works at the pharmacy part-time and was getting a lot of people coming in with symptoms and was … talking to local doctors about how many people in the Guyra region were being diagnosed.
“We thought it would be a good idea to get local members and the public together to put on a test so if they had it, they knew about it.”
The program ran over several weeks late last year.
People could have blood and skin-scratch tests, with the branch covering the cost of the latter.
If the person was infection-free, they could follow up with a vaccination.