Coxiella burnetii: Recent Advances and New Perspectives in Research of the Q Fever Bacterium

This title is printed to order. This book may have been self-published. If so, we cannot guarantee the quality of the content. In the main most books will have gone through the editing process however some may not. We therefore suggest that you be aware of this before ordering this book. If in doubt check either the author or publisher’s details as we are unable to accept any returns unless they are faulty. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Coxiella burnetii is the etiological agent of Q fever, a zoonotic disease found worldwide. The bacterium is a fascinating example of intracellular parasitism that has uniquely evolved to thrive in the most inhospitable of cellular compartments-the phagolysosome. Understanding how C. burnetii resists the degradative functions of this vacuole, and the host cell functions coopted for successful parasitism, are central to understanding Q fever pathogenesis. Recent achievements in glycomics and proteomics are guiding development of enhanced detection schemes for the bacterium in addition to shedding light on the host immune response to the pathogen. Several chapters survey immune functions that control or potentially exacerbate Coxiella infection and delve into correlates of protective immunity elicited by vaccination. Comparative genomics is also the foundation of chapters discussing diagnostic antigen discovery and molecular typing of the bacterium, with significance for development of new clinical, epidemiologic, and forensic tools.