q fever in dogs: an emerging infectious disease in iran

background: q fever is an important widespread reemerging zoonosis. the presence of coxiella burnetii in 100 tick-infested dogs was assessed in this study. methods: the blood samples from 100 referred dogs were acquired and evaluated by nested-pcr. results: c. burnetii was detected in 11 out of 100 (11%) blood samples. most of the positive dogs were kept outdoor and fed on raw diet. based on our findings, q fever should be considered as an emerging disease in dogs in iran; so, zoonotic importance of this population must be notified. to better understanding the role and pathogenic importance of dogs in q fever outbreak and to determine whether this organism can be transmitted directly from dogs to human further in-depth studies are necessary. conclusion: it is determined that c. burnetii is present in dogs in southeast of iran and people who are in contact with this population, especially asymptomatic ones are at increased risk of infection.