Etiologic agent of Q fever, named after American bacteriologist Herald Rea Cox and Australian physician Frank MacFarlane Burnet, who both independently isolated the bacterium in the 1930s. C. burnetii belongs in the family Coxiellaceae, which consists of gram-negative rods without flagella or a capsule. The bacteria occur in ticks and various vertebrates, including humans.
Footnotes
Sources: Dorland’s illustrated medical dictionary, 31st edition. Philadelphia: Saunders; 2007; American Veterinary Medical Association. Q fever backgrounder. Available from http://www.avma.org/public_health/biosecurity/qfever_bgnd.asp