Question

What activities or professions would increase the risk of contracting Coxiella burnetii.
Why and How?

Answer 1

Answer. Coxiella burnetii is the causal organism of the Q fever. People involved in the animal hide work, veterinary personnel, farmers, stockyard personnel, poultry farm caretakers are more affected to this disease.

This bacterium usually infects the animals like sheep, goat, other milk yielding animals etc. The causal organism is quite virulent so a single bacterium can cause a potent infection. Infected animals show the presence of this pathogen on the animal skin, milk, wool in case of sheep, and in the environment too if the animal at the farm is infected.

This infectious pathogen reaches into a healthy individual through inhalation, coming in contact through its products like meat, milk, wool in case of sheep etc. Most of the times it enters through the respiratory pathway. The causal organism has an incubation period of 9-40days. After this, the signs and symptoms begin to appear in the body, symptoms initiate with flu like symptoms but they worsen with time and requires an immediate medication as the bacterium damages the heart valves too. Several antibiotics are given at the infection stage, to get relief. However, a healthy individual should be vaccinized for this at a very early stage to prevent from catching the infection.