Diseases : A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y Z

How Is Q Fever Prevented ?

With a name like Q fever, this illness is not very well known across the world. However, the fever is present all over the world, other than in New Zealand. The illness is caused by a microorganism called Coxiella burnetii rickettsia. This organism is present in animals like birds, cats, dogs, cattle, sheep, goats and ticks.More...

Discovery Of Q Fever

Q fever was first described in 1937 after a scientist started carrying out investigations of an illness that occurred among workers working in an abattoir in Brisbane, Australia. This outbreak occurred in the year 1935. The illness was named this unique name because the scientist was not able to figure out its etiology.

Then in the year 1938, two scientists named Burnet and Freeman managed to identify the organism that caused the illness. This organism was Rickettsia, a strain of bacterium. It was believed at that time that these microorganisms were airborne and could enter a human body through either inhalation or ingestion.But later, another 2 scientists managed to identify that the microorganism was transmitted through vectors after they isolated the organism from ticks in the year 1938. The species of Rickettsia was ultimately named Coxiella burnetii.More...

 

Q Fever And Pregnancy

Q fever is an illness that is brought on by a microorganism known as Coxiella burnetii. This is a strain of bacterium that can infect humans and mammals like cattle, dogs, cats, goats and sheep. Usually the bacterium is airborne and can be contracted by breathing it, or you can get the illness by coming in contact with contaminated animal products like raw milk, urine, feces, mucus from the vagina or semen.

Usually on entering the body, the virus will have an incubation period of around nine days to forty days. The illness is highly infectious as just a single bacterium is sufficient to causes. Often the symptoms of the disease are mistaken for flu as they are very similar. It causes fever, exhaustion, pain in the muscles, pain in the joints, infection of the upper respiratory tract, chills, nausea, dry cough, vomiting, diarrhea, and pain while breathing. Invariably the fever will stay for around seven days to fourteen days.More...