By Edward R. Winstead
May 2, 2003
Scientists have sequenced the genome of the bacterium that causes Q fever, an illness that leaves a person incapacitated for several weeks with a debilitating headache and fever. The pathogen, Coxiella burnetii, is a potential bioweapon because it takes the form of an aerosol and causes flu-like symptoms. Thus, health officials might not initially recognize the pathogen as the cause of an outbreak.