Chlamydia | |
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Chlamydia trachomatis inclusion bodies (brown) in a McCoy cell culture. | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Bacteria |
Phylum: | Chlamydiota |
Class: | Chlamydiia |
Order: | Chlamydiales |
Family: | Chlamydiaceae |
Genus: | Chlamydia Jones, Rake & Stearns 1945 |
Type species | |
Chlamydia trachomatis (Busacca 1935) Rake 1957
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Species | |
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Synonyms | |
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Chlamydia is a genus of pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria that are obligate intracellular parasites. Chlamydia infections are the most common bacterial sexually transmitted diseases in humans and are the leading cause of infectious blindness worldwide.[1]
Species include Chlamydia trachomatis (a human pathogen), Ch. suis (affects only swine), and Ch. muridarum (affects only mice and hamsters).[2] Humans mainly contract Ch. trachomatis, Ch. pneumoniae, Ch. abortus, and Ch. psittaci.[3]