Described are the clinical manifestations of acute and chronic Q fever. Most frequently, acute Q fever pre- sents itself as a febrile influenza-like illness, atypical pneumonia, or hepatitis. Seldom in the acute stage the- re are present meningoencephalitis, neuritis of the optic nerve or other cerebral nerveš, pleuritis, myoperi- carditis, gastroenteritis, panereatitis, lymphadenopathy, erythema nodosum, maculopapular rash and purpura, bone marrow neerosis, glomerulonephritis, orchitis, epididymitis, or other rare syndromes. While mortality in acute Q fever reaches only 1%, chronic Q fever is a serious and often a fatal illness with 65% death rate. The most frequent manifestations of chronic Q fever are cultivation-negative endocarditis, infec- tions of aneurysms and grafts of vessels, osteomyelitis, osteoarthritis, granulomatous hepatitis, chronic lung infections, and pericarditis.

        Key words: Coxiella burnetti - acute and chronic Q fever - clinical picture