Q fever is a zoonosis of worldwide distribution with the exception of New Zealand. It is caused by an

; intracellular bacterium, Coxiella burnetii. The disease often goes underdiagnosed because the main manifestation

; of its acute form is a general self-limiting flu-like syndrome. The Dutch epidemics renewed attention to this

; disease, which was less considered before. This review summarizes the description of C. burnetii (taxonomy,

; intracellular cycle, and genome) and Q fever disease (description, diagnosis, epidemiology, and pathogenesis).

; Finally, vaccination in humans and animals is also considered