Prevalence of Bartonella henselae and Bartonella clarridgeiae in stray cats

Abstract

The aim of the present work was to determine by blood culture the prevalence of blood infection with Bartonella species in a well-defined, European, urban stray cat population. Therefore, 94 stray cats were trapped from 10 cat colonies. Blood samples of these cats were cultured on both blood agar and liquid medium in order to raise the likelihood of bacterial detection. Fifty blood samples (53%) gave a positive culture result for Bartonella species. Isolate identification was performed by sequencing the first 430 bases of the 16S ribosomal DNA. Three types of sequences were thus obtained. The first type (17 isolates; 34%) was identical to that of B. henselae Houston-1 and the corresponding strains were referred as B. henselae type I. The second sequence type (18 isolates; 36%) was identical to that initially described as "BA-TF," and the corresponding strains were referred to as B. henselae type II. The third sequence type (15 isolates; 30%) was identical to that of the Bartonella clarridgeiae type strain (ATCC 51734). Our study points out the major role of stray cats as a reservoir of Bartonella spp. which can be transmitted to pet cats and, consequently, to humans. The study also highlights the high prevalence of B. clarridgeiae (16%) in the blood of stray cats. MATERIALS AND METHODS Bacterial strains. B. clarridgeiae ATCC 51734 T was kindly provided by J. Clarridge III (Houston, Tex.), and Bartonella doshiae NCTC 12862 T and Bartonella vinsonii ATCC VR-152 T were kindly provided by R. Birtles (London, United Kingdom). B. henselae ATCC 49882 T was purchased from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC; Rockville, Md.). Cat population. The study was performed between May and December 1995 in the town of Nancy, which is in the eastern part of France. The cats enrolled in the study were living in 10 different cat colonies, labeled A to J (Fig. 1). These cat colonies were located in interior courtyards of urban blocks, as well as in the vicinity of collective or individual housing. One colony was located in a public

Lack of correlation between Bartonella DNA detection within fleas, serological results, and results of blood culture in a Bartonella-infected stray cat population

“…In this study, more than half (62%) of the cats were bacteremic due to Bartonella spp. This infection rate is similar to those found in previous studies of stray cats (Table 3), which have reported prevalences of 22-59% [7][8][9]13]. Factors which appear to influence the prevalence of bacteremia include cat age, presence/absence of flea infestation, and the geographic region of the survey [6,8].…”

“…That the isolation of B. clarridgeiae was also achieved by this procedure may also be due to the release of this species from an intraerythrocytic location. Although kittens and young cats have been found to be more frequently bacteremic than older cats [7,9,24], a lack of perinatal transmission of B. henselae in experimentally infected cats has been demonstrated [25]. Transmission of B. henselae between cats has been demonstrated to occur through cat flea contact [25,26], and as transmission by flea bite was not observed in an experimental model, it is considered that B. henselae is excreted in flea feces and enters its host via broken skin associated with cuts or scratches [27].…”

Identification of novel Bartonella spp. in bats and evidence of Asian gray shrew as a new potential reservoir of Bartonella

“…For PCR amplification of the ribC gene, a set of primers ribC-F and ribC-R was used to amplify an expected 800-bp DNA fragment (Inoue et al, 2009). As the 16S rRNA gene has been well-accepted for species identification of bacteria, the primers P8 and Pc1544 were used for amplifying approximately 1300-1400 bp of the 16S rRNA gene (Heller et al, 1997).…”

Canine and Feline Blood Donor Screening for Infectious Disease

“…40 Another study showed that B henselae and B clarridgeiae bacteremia was found in up to 50% of the domestic and feral cat populations in regions where fleas were endemic. 41 However, B henselae infection was only documented by PCR assay in 2 of 117 (1.7%) community source cats used as blood donors in the United States. 32 Serologic cross-reactivity among B henselae and B clarridgeiae and B koehlerae does not always occur, but blood culture and PCR are capable of detecting all Bartonella species.…”