Live Cell Therapy as Potential Risk Factor for Q Fever

Abstract

During an outbreak of Q fever in Germany, we identified an infected sheep flock from which animals were routinely used as a source for life cell therapy (LCT), the injection of fetal cells or cell extracts from sheep into humans. Q fever developed in 7 LCT recipients from Canada, Germany, and the United States.

Keywords

• live cell therapy
• Q fever
• Coxiella burnetii
• bacteria
• risk factor
• outbreaks