Q Fever Studies in Southern California: IV. Occurrence of Coxiella burneti in the Spinose Ear Tick, Otobius megnini

Abstract
Following the discovery of Q fever in California, a search was made for ticks as possible vectors. The spinose ear tick is a common parasite on dairy cattle in this area. Ticks were collected in lots of 1 to 25 and suspensions injected intraperit. and subcut. into guinea pigs. Surviving pigs were bled and the serums tested for Q fever complement-fixing antibodies. The guinea pigs were then injected with known Q fever rickettsia to test for immunity. 10 of 246 lots of ticks gave evidence of spontaneous infection with C. burnetii O. megnini is the only sp. of soft ticks that has been shown to harbor the Q fever rickettsia.

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