Coxiella burnetii infection in domestic animals occurs in many parts of the world, including the Mediterranean region, 2,3 Great Britain, 8 Australia, 5 California, 4 Idaho, 12 and Ontario, Canada. 9 The organism is an obligate intracytoplasmic parasite in the family Rickettsiaceae. It causes Q fever in man and occasionally outbreaks of abortions in food animals such as sheep, goats, and dairy cows. The purpose of this report is to describe the pathology and microbiologic findings of a recent outbreak of abortion in sheep from northcentral California. Four aborted near-term lambs and 2 placentas were submitted for diagnostic examination to the Animal Disease