Q fever endocarditis of the tricuspid valve transmitted in an urban setting with no livestock exposure: Case report
BMC Infectious Diseases·
- DOI
- 10.1186/s12879-024-09629-x
- PMID
- 39090536
- PMCID
- PMC11293036
- OpenAlex
- W4401225081
- Study type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
The case demonstrates that Q fever infection can occur in non-rural, urban settings without traditional livestock exposure, suggesting alternative transmission pathways may warrant surveillance attention.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The authors describe a case of Q fever endocarditis affecting the tricuspid valve in a patient with no livestock contact, acquired in an urban setting.
Study design
This is a single case report describing clinical presentation, epidemiological investigation, laboratory confirmation, and treatment outcome.
Population and setting
The patient was a previously healthy 55-year-old man working as a cemetery gardener in Berlin, Germany. Exposure occurred in a metropolitan area with no sheep contact but with close temporal and local exposure to wild boar.
Main findings
The patient developed confirmed Coxiella burnetii endocarditis of the tricuspid valve following exposure in a strictly urban environment. The infection was laboratory-confirmed by the German Reference Laboratory. The patient achieved complete recovery after treatment with doxycycline and hydroxychloroquine.
Public-health relevance
The case demonstrates that Q fever infection can occur in non-rural, urban settings without traditional livestock exposure, suggesting alternative transmission pathways may warrant surveillance attention.
Important limitations
This summary is limited to the supplied single-article abstract and bibliographic metadata. The case report describes a single patient and does not establish a transmission pathway definitively. Full interpretation requires access to the complete published article.
GIDS interpretation
The article was classified under Q fever, transmission dynamics, travel medicine, and treatment. It describes an atypical urban case that may inform case investigation protocols where traditional livestock exposure is absent.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 8 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.