Project description:We report detection of Bartonella henselae DNA in blood samples from 2 harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). By using real-time polymerase chain reaction, we directly amplified Bartonella species DNA from blood of a harbor porpoise stranded along the northern North Carolina coast and from a pre-enrichment blood culture from a second harbor porpoise. The second porpoise was captured out of habitat (in a low-salinity canal along the northern North Carolina coast) and relocated back into the ocean. Subsequently, DNA was amplified by conventional polymerase chain reaction for DNA sequencing. The 16S-23S intergenic transcribed spacer region obtained from each porpoise was 99.8% similar to that of B. henselae strain San Antonio 2 (SA2), whereas both heme-binding phage-associated pap31 gene sequences were 100% homologous to that of B. henselae SA2. Currently, the geographic distribution, mode of transmission, reservoir potential, and pathogenicity of bloodborne Bartonella species in porpoises have not been determined.

| S-EPMC3367652 | biostudies-literature

Bartonella henselae and Bartonella elizabethae as potential canine pathogens.

Project description:Bartonella henselae or Bartonella elizabethae DNA from EDTA-anticoagulated blood samples obtained from four dogs was amplified and sequenced. The results showed that B. elizabethae should be added to the list of Bartonella species (i.e., B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii, B. henselae, and B. clarridgeiae) that are currently recognized as infectious agents in dogs. Furthermore, these results may have potential zoonotic implications, particularly if dogs can serve as a previously unrecognized reservoir for B. henselae. Although the clinical relevance of these observations remains to be determined, it is possible that molecular diagnostic techniques such as PCR may help to implicate a spectrum of Bartonella spp. as a cause of or a cofactor in chronic canine and human diseases of poorly defined causation.

| S-EPMC154595 | biostudies-literature

Molecular detection of Rickettsia felis and Bartonella henselae in dog and cat fleas in Central Oromia, Ethiopia.

Project description:Fleas are important vectors of several Rickettsia and Bartonella spp. that cause emerging zoonotic diseases worldwide. In this study, 303 fleas collected from domestic dogs and cats in Ethiopia and identified morphologically as Ctenocephalides felis felis, C. canis, Pulex irritans, and Echidnophaga gallinacea were tested for Rickettsia and Bartonella DNA by using molecular methods. Rickettsia felis was detected in 21% of fleas, primarily C. felis, with a similar prevalence in fleas from dogs and cats. A larger proportion of flea-infested dogs (69%) than cats (37%) harbored at least one C. felis infected with R. felis. Rickettsia typhi was not detected. Bartonella henselae DNA was detected in 6% (2 of 34) of C. felis collected from cats. Our study highlights the likelihood of human exposure to R. felis, an emerging agent of spotted fever, and B. henselae, the agent of cat-scratch disease, in urban areas in Ethiopia.

| S-EPMC3945691 | biostudies-literature