ABSTRACT
First described by Edward Derrick in 1935 as a febrile disease (then called “query fever”) from meat factory workers in Queensland, Australia, Q fever was shown to be of bacterial origin, following the isolation of the culprit agent (then called Rickettsia burnetii) by MacFarlane Burnet from the blood and urine of the patients. About the same time, an identical bacterium (then called Rickettsia diaporica, reflecting the ability of the agent to pass through filter pores) was isolated by Herald Rea Cox and Gordon Davis from ticks involved in a febrile disease of guinea pig in Montana. Given its clear distinction from Rickettsia organisms, this gram-negative, febrile disease-causing bacterium was subsequently renamed as Coxiella burnetii in honor of both research groups [1].
