The Importance of Ticks in Q Fever Transmission: What Has (and Has Not) Been Demonstrated?
Trends Parasitol
; 31(11): 536-552, 2015 Nov.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26458781
ABSTRACT
Q fever is a widespread zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii, a ubiquitous intracellular bacterium infecting humans and a variety of animals. Transmission is primarily but not exclusively airborne, and ticks are usually thought to act as vectors. We argue that, although ticks may readily transmit C. burnetii in experimental systems, they only occasionally transmit the pathogen in the field. Furthermore, we underscore that many Coxiella-like bacteria are widespread in ticks and may have been misidentified as C. burnetii. Our recommendation is to improve the methods currently used to detect and characterize C. burnetii, and we propose that further knowledge of Coxiella-like bacteria will yield new insights into Q fever evolutionary ecology and C. burnetii virulence factors.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Q Fever
/
Tick-Borne Diseases
Limits:
Animals
/
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Trends Parasitol
Journal subject:
PARASITOLOGIA
Year:
2015
Document type:
Article