Q fever

Summary An outbreak of Q fever occurred in Scotland during this summer and was reported in news headlines. Despite these newsworthy headlines, Q fever remains poorly understood. The causative organism, Coxiella burnetii , has a worldwide distribution, with the notable exception of New Zealand. Even...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of infection 2007-04, Vol.54 (4), p.313-318
Main Authors: Cutler, Sally J, Bouzid, Maha, Cutler, Ronald R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Animals
Animals, Domestic - microbiology
Animals, Wild - microbiology
Arthropoda
Bacterial diseases
Biological and medical sciences
Coxiella burnetii
Coxiella burnetii - classification
Coxiella burnetii - genetics
Coxiella burnetii - isolation & purification
Human bacterial diseases
Humans
Incidence
Infectious Disease
Infectious diseases
Ixodes - microbiology
Male
Medical sciences
Prevalence
Q fever
Q Fever - diagnosis
Q Fever - epidemiology
Q Fever - microbiology
Q Fever - transmission
Rickettsial diseases
Tick-borne disease
Tick-Borne Diseases - epidemiology
Tick-Borne Diseases - microbiology
Tick-Borne Diseases - transmission
Tropical bacterial diseases
Zoonoses
Zoonoses - epidemiology
Zoonoses - microbiology
Zoonoses - transmission
Zoonosis
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Description
Summary:Summary An outbreak of Q fever occurred in Scotland during this summer and was reported in news headlines. Despite these newsworthy headlines, Q fever remains poorly understood. The causative organism, Coxiella burnetii , has a worldwide distribution, with the notable exception of New Zealand. Even with its ubiquitous nature, Q fever is rarely reported. We explore some of the underlying reasons for this apparent under diagnosis together with some of the diagnostic challenges posed by this obligate intracellular pathogen. The host range for this microbe spans arthropods, through to birds and a diverse range of mammals including livestock, companion animals and man. In most, infection remains sub-clinical, however, in some, infection can cause severe and life-threatening complications. Furthermore, possible long-term persistence within those infected, may result in long-term sequelae disassociated from initial risk factors or acute clinical presentation. We review current thinking on C. burnetii , and identify some of our current knowledge gaps.
ISSN:0163-4453
1532-2742
DOI:10.1016/j.jinf.2006.10.048