Bacteria

Q Fever

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Q Fever, Coxiella Burnetii, Nine Mile Fever

  • Pathophysiology
  1. Coxiella Burnetii is an Obligate Intracellular Bacteria
  2. Transmission
    1. Exposure to farm animals (esp. cattle, goats, sheep)
    2. Typically via aerosolized animal feces, contaminated soil or unpasteurized milk
    3. Tick Borne Illness transmission occurs, but is rare
  3. Incubation
    1. Three weeks (ranges from 9-40 days)
  • Symptoms
  1. Flu-like symptoms
    1. Fever
    2. Malaise
    3. Headache
    4. Myalgias
    5. Arthralgias
  2. Respiratory symptoms
    1. Dry cough
    2. Pleuritic Chest Pain
  3. Gastrointestinal symptoms
    1. Nausea
    2. Vomiting
    3. Diarrhea
  • Complications
  1. Atypical Pneumonia
  2. Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
  3. Granulomatous Hepatitis
  4. Endocarditis
  5. Vascular Infections
  • Resources
  • References
  1. Black, Martin, DeVos (2018) Crit Dec Emerg Med 32(8): 3-12
  2. Nordurft-Froman and DeVos (2022) Crit Dec Emerg Med 36(4): 4-15