Coxiella burnetti

Coxiella burnetti is the contributing bacterium to the disease Q fever.  C. burnetti is a gram negative, obligate intracellular pathogen that is acquired by inhalation of aerosolized particles [1, 2].

Q fever can be attained by inhalation, digestion, or direct skin penetration and can survive for weeks allowing it to be carried by the wind.  Because of this, the origin of infection is usually unknown.   Livestock is the main animal host for C. burnetti; it is commonly transmitted through this contact [2]. The most common symptoms of acute Q fever are fever, headache, chills, fatigue, myalgia, sweats, cough, nausea and vomiting. However, the disease can disseminate to become a more serious infection like mycarditis or endocarditis in Chronic Q fever [3].  The detection of Q fever is complicated by the fact that culture methods do not work when looking for C. burnetti and are dangerous due to the high infectivity of the airborn bacteria.  Immunological and serological methods are typically employed when looking for C. burnetti infections.  More recently, PCR is now successful in detecting C. burnetti in different types of patient samples and is good for quantification [3, 4].  Treatment of Q fever is usually successful with doxycycline [5]. Doxycycline is an effective treatment when used for a period of 15-21 days.  Chronic Q fever, however, usually requires more extensive treatment.  Two options are commonly known for this treatment: doxycycline with quinolones and doxycycline with hydroxychloroquine.  In some cases, surgery is necessary to remove damaged heart valves [5].

References:

  1. Petros C. Karakousis, et al.  Chronic Q Fever in the United States.  J. Clin. Microbiol. June 2006.  44(6): 2283-2287. 
  2. Joshua D. Hartzell, MD, et al.  Q Fever: Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment.  Mayo Clin Proc. 2008.  83(5):574-579
  3. M. Maurin And D. Raoult.  Q Fever.  Clin. Microbiol. Rev. Oct. 1999.  12(4): 518-553. 
  4. Nathalie Arricau-Bouvery and Annie Rodolakis.  Is Q Fever an emerging or re-emerging zoonosis? Vet. Res. 2005.  36: 327-349. 
  5. Q fever. Viral and Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch. CDC Feb. 2003. <http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/qfever/index.htm>.

Additional References:

  1. Claire E. Moodie, et al.  Prophylaxis after Exposure to Coxiella burnetii.  Emerging Infectious Diseases.  CDC Oct. 2008.  14(10): 1558-1566. 
  2. F. Fenollar, et al.  Molecular Detection of Coxiella burnetii in the Sera of Patients with Q Fever Endocarditis or Vascular Infection.  J. Clin. Microbiol. Nov. 2004.  42(11): 4919-4924. 
  3. Anders Omsland, et al.  Host cell-free growth of the Q fever bacterium Coxiella burnetii.  PNAS Mar. 2009.  106(11): 4430-4434. 
  4. Didier Musso And Didier Raoult.  Coxiella burnetii Blood Cultures from Acute and Chronic Q-Fever Patients.  J. Clin. Microbiol. Dec. 1995.  33(12): 3129-3132.
  5. Olga Glazunova, et al.  Coxiella burnetii Genotyping.  Emerging Infectious Diseases.  CDC Aug. 2005.  11(8): 1211-1217.
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Spiro Stat uses modern molecular diagnostic approaches that have been validated under stringent criteria. All laboratory testing is performed in our CAP accredited CLIA laboratory, Southwest Regional PCR.