Table 1.

Summary of atypical pneumonia agents

Organism	Transmission	Incubation	Treatment
Mycoplasma pneumoniae	Person to person	3 weeks	Macrolides, tetracyclines,
			fluoroquinolones, ketolides
Chlamydia pneumoniae	Person to person	3 weeks	Macrolides, tetracyclines,
			fluoroquinolones, ketolides
Chlamydia psittaci	Birds and domestic	5–15 days	Tetracyclines; erythromycin as
	animals		alternative
Rickettsia rickettsii	Ticks	2–14 days	Tetracyclines or chloramphenicol
Ehrlichia chaffeensis	Ticks	1 week	Tetracyclines
Anaplasma phagocytophila	Ticks	1 week	Tetracyclines
Coxiella burnetii	Cattle, sheep,	2–14 days	Tetracyclines; combination therapy
	goats, cats		with tetracyclines and
			hydroxychloroquine, rifampin, or
			fluoroquinolone for endocarditis
Bartonella henselae	Cats	3–10 days	Macrolides and tetracyclines
Borrelia burgdorferi	Ticks	1 week	Tetracyclines or amoxicillin;
			ceftriaxone for neurologic disease
Francisella tularensis	Rodents, rabbits, hares	2–10 days	Streptomycin