A
Anonymous
After 3 years of vague symptoms that eventually landed her in the hospital with liver failure, my mother has been diagnosed with "Q Fever".
I have done all sorts of searching and am having trouble finding information on the chronic form of the disease -- most information is about the acute form that runs its course in 2 days to 2 weeks with nothing more than flu-like symptoms. The chronic form is *very* debilitating, with some people showing no improvement after 10 years of infection.
Before anyone says that this is off topic, be aware that Q Fever is caused by a bacteria-like organism (coxiella burnetii) that is found in cattle, goats, sheep, rabbits, dogs, cats, and ticks. It seems to accumulate in the uterus and mammary tissue of the females and can be transmitted by contact with contaminated birth fluids/tissue. It can also be transmitted by breathing in dried dust that contains the organism, such as dust from a pen where contaminated cattle have calved, or dust from contaminated manure. It survives dry conditions very well and can be transmitted in dried blood, urine, or milk.
If anyone has any more information on this disease I would be most grateful if you could forward it to me. <A HREF="mailto
[email protected]">([email protected]</A>)
Ann Bledsoe
[email protected]
I have done all sorts of searching and am having trouble finding information on the chronic form of the disease -- most information is about the acute form that runs its course in 2 days to 2 weeks with nothing more than flu-like symptoms. The chronic form is *very* debilitating, with some people showing no improvement after 10 years of infection.
Before anyone says that this is off topic, be aware that Q Fever is caused by a bacteria-like organism (coxiella burnetii) that is found in cattle, goats, sheep, rabbits, dogs, cats, and ticks. It seems to accumulate in the uterus and mammary tissue of the females and can be transmitted by contact with contaminated birth fluids/tissue. It can also be transmitted by breathing in dried dust that contains the organism, such as dust from a pen where contaminated cattle have calved, or dust from contaminated manure. It survives dry conditions very well and can be transmitted in dried blood, urine, or milk.
If anyone has any more information on this disease I would be most grateful if you could forward it to me. <A HREF="mailto
[email protected]">([email protected]</A>)Ann Bledsoe
[email protected]
