Q Fever

Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by a bacterium that can infect many types of animals, including goats, sheep, cattle, dogs, cats, and birds. Humans can become infected by direct contact with contaminated animals, inhaling infectious particles, drinking raw milk from contaminated animals, or rarely by the bite of an infected tick. In humans, infection can cause fever with many other symptoms, like headache, cough, diarrhea, and vomiting. It can rarely progress to more severe illness like pneumonia, liver disease, and meningitis.

Page last updated 12/21/2022