Q fever

noun

An infectious disease, resembling influenza, caused by the bacterium Coxiella burnetii (previously classified as Rickettsia burnetii).

Meanings

nounQ fever (uncountable)

alternative Q-fever

  1. uncountableAn infectious disease, resembling influenza, caused by the bacterium Coxiella burnetii (previously classified as Rickettsia burnetii).

    1995, M. Isaacson, M. J. Hale, Chapter 8: Infections Caused by Rickettsiae, W. Doerr, Tropical Pathology, page 275, In the past it was believed that chronic Q fever was always the result of reactivation of a primary infection which persisted in latent form.

    2 more examples

    2001, Todd Hatchette, Thomas J. Marrie, Q Fever, entry in R. W. Ashford, Encyclopedia of Arthropod-transmitted Infections of Man and Domesticated Animals, page 417, Q fever (query fever) is a zoonosis with worldwide distribution. New Zealand is the only country free of the disease.

    Q fever has a major public health impact when outbreaks occur.[…]Accurate diagnosis and effective control strategies are necessary to limit the zoonotic and veterinary impact of Q fever.

    2013, H. I. J. Roest, A. Bossers, J. M. J. Rebel, “Q Fever Diagnosis and Control in Domestic Ruminants”, in J. A. Roth, J. A. Richt, I. A. Morozov, editors, Vaccines and Diagnostics for Transboundary Animal Diseases, page 183

Origin

From query + fever, the causative agent being unknown at the time.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic حَمَى Q
  • حَمَى Q (ḥamā Q)infectious disease resembling influenza
Chinese Mandarin Q熱 /Q热, Q型流感
  • Q熱 /Q热 (Q-rè)infectious disease resembling influenza
  • Q型流感 (Q-xíngliúgǎn)infectious disease resembling influenza
Czech Q horečka
  • Q horečkainfectious disease resembling influenza
Dutch Q-koorts
  • Q-koortsinfectious disease resembling influenza
Finnish Q-kuume
  • Q-kuumeinfectious disease resembling influenza
French fièvre Q
  • fièvre Qinfectious disease resembling influenza
German Q-Fieber
  • Q-Fieberinfectious disease resembling influenza
Hindi क्यू बुखार
  • क्यू बुखार (kyū bukhār)infectious disease resembling influenza
Hungarian Q-láz
  • Q-lázinfectious disease resembling influenza
Italian febbre Q
  • febbre Qinfectious disease resembling influenza
Japanese Q熱
  • Q熱 (kyū-netsu)infectious disease resembling influenza
Korean 큐열
  • 큐열 (kyuyeol)infectious disease resembling influenza
Portuguese febre Q
  • febre Qinfectious disease resembling influenza
Russian Ку-лихора́дка
  • Ку-лихора́дка (Ku-lixorádka)infectious disease resembling influenza
Spanish fiebre Q
  • fiebre Qinfectious disease resembling influenza
Vietnamese bệnh sốt Q
  • bệnh sốt Qinfectious disease resembling influenza
Cite this entry
APA

Q fever. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Q%20fever

MLA

“Q fever.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Q%20fever. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Q fever,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Q%20fever.

Source: Q fever on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.