Infection by Coxiella burnetii in a patient from a rural area of Monteria, Colombia Infección por Coxiella burnetii en un paciente de un área rural de Montería, Colombia

Q fever is a zoonosis caused by Coxiella burnetii. In Colombia, there have been very few human cases reported to date. This report describes the case of a 56-yearold patient with a background in agriculture and livestock handling. An indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) showed high titers of IgG for C. burnetii antiphase I (1:256) and anti-phase II (1:1024). For the next six months the patient’s IgG antibody titers remained high, and after treatment with doxycycline, the IgG antibody titers decreased to 50% (anti-phase I 1:128 and anti-phase II 1:512); this profile suggests an infection due to C. burnetii.