Bart Dogs VA
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2011 Jul 7. [Epub ahead of print]
Ecological Diversity of Bartonella Species Infection Among Dogs and Their Owner in Virginia.
Cherry NA, Maggi RG, Rossmeisl JH, Hegarty BC, Breitschwerdt EB.
Source
1 Intracellular Pathogens Research Laboratory and the Center for Comparative Medicine and Translational Research, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University , Raleigh, North Carolina.
Abstract
Abstract Bartonella species comprise a genus of gram-negative, fastidious, intracellular bacteria that have been implicated in association with an increasing spectrum of disease manifestations in dogs and human patients. In this study, chronic canine and human disease, for which causation was not diagnostically defined, were reported by the breeder of a kennel of Doberman pinschers. In addition to other diagnostic tests, serology, polymerase chain reaction, and enrichment blood culture were used to assess the prevalence of Bartonella sp. infection in the dogs and their owner. From five dogs, Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii genotype I, multiple Bartonella henselae strains, and a species most similar to Candidatus B. volans, a rodent-associated Bartonella sp., were amplified and sequenced from biopsy tissues, cerebrospinal fluid, or blood enrichment cultures. The owner was bacteremic with B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii genotype I, the same subsp. and genotype detected in one of her dogs. These results further emphasize the ecological complexity of Bartonella sp. transmission in nature.
PMID: 21736485 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
J Vet Intern Med. 2011 May 25. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2011.0736.x. [Epub ahead of print]
Molecular and Serological Diagnosis of Bartonella Infection in 61 Dogs from the United States.
Source
Intracellular Pathogens Research Laboratory, Center for Comparative Medicine and Translational Research, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University (NCSU), Raleigh, NC College of Veterinary Medicine, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA.
Abstract
Background: Molecular diagnosis of canine bartonellosis can be extremely challenging and often requires the use of an enrichment culture approach followed by PCR amplification of bacterial DNA. Hypotheses: (1) The use of enrichment culture with PCR will increase molecular detection of bacteremia and will expand the diversity of Bartonella species detected. (2) Serological testing for Bartonella henselae and Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii does not correlate with documentation of bacteremia. Animals: Between 2003 and 2009, 924 samples from 663 dogs were submitted to the North Carolina State University, College of Veterinary Medicine, Vector Borne Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory for diagnostic testing with theBartonellaα-Proteobacteria growth medium (BAPGM) platform. Test results and medical records of those dogs were retrospectively reviewed. Methods: PCR amplification of Bartonella sp. DNA after extraction from patient samples was compared with PCR after BAPGM enrichment culture. Indirect immunofluorescent antibody assays, used to detect B. henselae and B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii antibodies, were compared with PCR. Results: Sixty-one of 663 dogs were culture positive or had Bartonella DNA detected by PCR, including B. henselae (30/61), B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii (17/61),Bartonella koehlerae (7/61), Bartonella volans-like (2/61), and Bartonella bovis (2/61). Coinfection with more than 1Bartonella sp. was documented in 9/61 dogs. BAPGM culture was required for PCR detection in 32/61 cases. Only 7/19 and 4/10 infected dogs tested by IFA were B. henselae and B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii seroreactive, respectively. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Dogs were most often infected with B. henselae or B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii based on PCR and enrichment culture, coinfection was documented, and various Bartonella species were identified. Most infecteddogs did not have detectable Bartonella antibodies.
Copyright © 2011 by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.
PMID: 21615498 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
J Vet Intern Med. 2011 May-Jun;25(3):613-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2011.0722.x.
Bartonella spp. DNA in cardiac tissues from dogs in Colorado and Wyoming.
Fenimore A, Varanat M, Maggi R, Schultheiss P, Breitschwerdt E, Lappin MR.
Source
Department of Clinical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. acfenimo@rams.colostate.edu
Abstract
Several Bartonella species (spp.) have been identified in dogs diagnosed with infectious endocarditis (IE) or myocarditis.
To interrogate cardiac tissues of dogs with suspected IE for the presence of Bartonella spp. DNA of dogs in the Rocky Mountain states.
Nine dogs with a clinical diagnosis of endocarditis from January 1990 to June 2008 were included.
In this retrospective study, medical records at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital were searched. Animals were excluded if there was no diagnosis of IE in the original necropsy report. Paraffin embedded tissue blocks and medical records were available from 9 dogs. Total DNA was extracted from the cardiac tissues and assessed for Bartonella spp. DNA by 3 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods. For positive samples, the Bartonella spp. were determined by genetic sequencing or fluorogenic real-time PCR.
Bartonella henselae DNA was amplified from the tissues of 7 dogs; Bartonella vinsonii subsp berkhoffii DNA was amplified concurrently from 3 dogs. Six dogs were from Colorado and 1 was from Wyoming. Flea or tick infestations were reported in 2 dogs.
Bartonella spp. should be on the differential list for dogs in the Rocky Mountain states. The results emphasize the need for routine use of external parasite control products even in regions perceived to have low risk for flea and tick infestations.
Copyright © 2011 by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.
PMID: 21539606 [PubMed - in process]
J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2011 Feb 1;238(3):311-7.
Prevalence of infectious diseases in cats and dogs rescued following Hurricane Katrina.
Levy JK, Lappin MR, Glaser AL, Birkenheuer AJ, Anderson TC, Edinboro CH.
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Source
Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA. levyjk@ufl.edu
Abstract
To determine the prevalence of infectious diseases of animal and zoonotic importance in cats and dogsrescued and transferred from the Gulf Coast region following Hurricane Katrina.
Cross-sectional study.
414 dogs and 56 cats rescued and transferred from the Gulf Coast region within 4 months after the hurricane.
EDTA-anticoagulated blood and serum samples were tested via PCR and serologic assays for infectious diseases.
In dogs, prevalence was highest for anti-West Nile virus (WNV) antibodies (218/390 [55.9%]), Dirofilaria immitis antigen (195/400 [48.8%]), anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies (92/366 [25.1%]), and hemotropic mycoplasma DNA (40/345 [11.9%]). The DNA of Bartonella spp, Ehrlichia spp, or Babesia spp or anti-canine influenza virus antibodies were identified in < 2% of dogs. In cats, prevalence was highest for antibodies against Bartonella spp and DNA of Bartonella spp combined (49/55 [89.1 %]), anti-T gondii antibodies (13/55 [23.6%]), hemotropic mycoplasma DNA (5/47 [10.6%]), anti-WNV antibodies (5/48 [10.4%]), D immitis antigen (4/50 [8.0%]), and anti-FIV antibodies (4/56 [7.1%]). A total of 308 (74.4%) dogsand 52 (92.9%) cats had evidence of previous or current vector-borne infections.
Cats and dogs rescued from the disaster region had evidence of multiple infectious diseases. The dispersal of potentially infectious animals to other regions of North America where some infections were not typically found could have contributed to new geographic ranges for these organisms or to underdiagnosis in affected animals because of a low index of suspicion in regions with low disease prevalence.
PMID: 21281213 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Vet Microbiol. 2011 Apr 21;149(1-2):206-12. Epub 2010 Oct 16.
Evolution of clinical, haematological and biochemical findings in young dogs naturally infected by vector-borne pathogens.
de Caprariis D, Dantas-Torres F, Capelli G, Mencke N, Stanneck D, Breitschwerdt EB, Otranto D.
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Source
Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Zootecnia, Università degli Studi di Bari, Valenzano, BA, Italy.
Abstract
Longitudinal studies evaluating the evolution of clinical, haematological, biochemical findings in young dogs exposed for the first time to multiple vector-borne pathogens have not been reported. With the objective of assessing the evolution of clinical, haematological and biochemical findings, these parameters were serially monitored in naturally infected dogs throughout a 1-year follow-up period. Young dogs, infected by vector-borne pathogens based on cytology or polymerase chain reaction, were examined clinically and blood samples were obtained at seven different follow-up time points. Dogs were randomized to group A (17 dogs treated with a spot-on formulation of imidacloprid 10% and permethrin 50%) or to group B (17 dogsuntreated). In addition, 10 4-month-old beagles were enrolled in each group and used as sentinel dogs. At baseline, Anaplasma platys was the most frequently detected pathogen, followed by Babesia vogeli, Bartonella spp., Ehrlichia canis and Hepatozoon canis. Co-infections with A. platys and B. vogeli, followed by E. canis and B. vogeli, A. platys and H. canis and A. platys and Bartonella spp. were also diagnosed. In dogs from group B, abnormal clinical signs were recorded at different time points throughout the study. No abnormal clinical signs were recorded in group A dogs. Thrombocytopenia was the most frequent haematological alteration recorded in A. platys-infected dogs, B. vogeli-infected dogs and in dogs co-infected with A. platys and B. vogeli or A. platys and Bartonella spp. Lymphocytosis was frequently detected among dogs infected with B. vogeli or co-infected with A. platys and B. vogeli. Beagles were often infected with a single pathogen rather than with multiple canine vector-borne pathogens. There was a significant association (p<0.01) between tick infestation and A. platys or B. vogeli, as single infections, and A. platys and B. vogeli or A. platys and Bartonella spp. co-infections. This study emphasizes the clinical difficulties associated with assigning a specific clinical sign or haematological abnormality to a particular canine vector-borne disease.
Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PMID: 21106311 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2011 May;11(5):471-7. Epub 2010 Oct 25.
Bartonella henselae and the potential for arthropod vector-borne transmission.
Source
Third World Veterinary, Fountain Hills, Arizona 85269, USA. markmosbacher@hotmail.com
Abstract
Bartonella henselae, the causative agent of the illness referred to as cat scratch disease, is a common infection, particularly in children, and clinicians need to be aware of its potential transmission to humans by arthropod vectors such as fleas and ticks in addition to animal bites and scratches. The absence of a vertebrate bite or scratch does not preclude infection with B. henselae.
Literature regarding arthropod transmission of B. henselae was reviewed.
B. henselae appears to be transmitted among cats and dogs in vivo exclusively by arthropod vectors (excepting perinatal transmission), not by biting and scratching. In the absence of these vectors disease does not spread. On the other hand, disease can be spread to humans by bites and scratches, and it is highly likely that it is spread as well by arthropod vectors.
Clinicians should be aware that a common illness, infection with B. henselae, can be transmitted by arthropod vectors and a history of an animal scratch or bite is not necessary for disease transmission.
Clin Dermatol. 2010 Sep-Oct;28(5):483-8.
Skin diseases associated with Bartonella infection: facts and controversies.
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Source
Department of Dermatopathology, University Hospital of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
Abstract
The genus Bartonella is composed of a series of species and subspecies. Ten of them are responsible for human infections. The best-identified diseases are cat scratch disease (B henselae and possibly B clarridgeiae), trench fever (B quintana), bacillary angiomatosis (B quintana and B henselae), and the spectrum of verruga peruana, Carrion disease, and Oroya fever (B bacilliformis). Controversies exist about the implication of a few other microorganisms being involved in these diseases. Several other conditions have been associated with the presence of Bartonella spp, but these observations await confirmation.
Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
PMID: 20797506 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
