Counting of viable C. burnetii cells by quantitative reverse transcription PCR using a recombinant plasmid (pCB-dotA) as a standard

Abstract

are usually infected by inhalation of aerosols, contaminated by infectious particles derived from domestic animals, particularly after contact with parturient females and their birth products (Babudieri, 1959; Marrie, 1990). Q fever is a zoonosis with a worldwide distribution. Many species of mammals, birds, and ticks are reservoirs of C. burnetii in nature. The infection in an animal is most often latent, with persistent shedding of bacteria into the environment. However, in the female reproductive tract, high-level shedding occurs at the time of parturition, with millions of bacteria being released in the placenta. Treatment with antimicrobial agents is recommended for both acute and chronic Q fever. For acute Q fever, a variety of antibiotics have been used, but the member of a tetracycline group, doxycycline, is considered the medicament of choice. Doxycycline has been shown to result in a mean time to defervescence of 2-3 days, whereas untreated patients resolve the fever after a mean of 12.5 days. This antibiotic has shown effectivity also for therapy of chronic form, but it was demonstrated that the combination of doxycycline with chloroquine