Q fever cholecystitis in an unvaccinated butcher diagnosed by gallbladder polymerase chain reaction.

Acalculous cholecystitis has been described in association with Q fever. We describe the first known case of Q fever cholecystitis diagnosed by polymerase chain reaction on gallbladder tissue. The presence of Coxiella burnetii genome in the diseased gallbladder tissue argues for direct involvement of the organism in the pathogenesis of Q fever cholecystitis.