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Q fever

Introduction. 

Q-fever is a flu-like illness caused by the intracellular pathogen Coxiella burnetii. It is a zoonotic disease with a reservoir in cattle, sheep, goats, dogs, cats, and birds. Coxiella, unlike most intracellular pathogens, however, is extremely resistant to the environment and can survive for months in soil or dirt. Coxiella is inhaled and then infects host cells, multiplying in the phagolysosome where it can survive. The name "Q fever" stands for Query fever - a fever with a once-unidentified cause. Coxiella can be found as small-cell variants (SCV) in the environment and replicates as large-cell variants (LCV) inside host cells.

 

Summary