Bartonella Infections in Cats and Cat Fleas in Lithuania.

Miglė Razgūnaitė,Algimantas Paulauskas,Jana Radzijevskaja,Birutė Karvelienė,Indrė Lipatova,Vita Riškevičienė

doi:10.3390/pathogens10091209

Miglė Razgūnaitė, Algimantas Paulauskas + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10091209

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Abstract

Bartonella are vector-borne parasitic bacteria that cause zoonotic infections in humans. One of the most common infections is cat-scratch disease caused by Bartonella henselae and Bartonella clarridgeiae. Cats are the major reservoir for these two species of bacteria, while cat fleas are vectors for the transmission of infection agents among cats. The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of Bartonella infections in stray and pet cats and in cat fleas in Lithuania. Blood samples were taken from 163 cats presented in pet clinics and animal shelters. A total of 102 fleas representing two species, Ctenocephalides felis and Ctenocephalides canis, were collected from 12 owned cats that live both outdoors and indoors. Bartonella DNA in samples was detected using a nested PCR targeting the 16S–23S rRNA intergenic spacer (ITS) region. Bartonella DNA was detected in 4.9% (8/163) of the cats and 29.4% (30/102) of the fleas. Sequence analysis of the ITS region showed that the cats and fleas were infected with B. henselae, B. clarridgeiae and Bartonella sp., closely related to B. schoenbuchensis. This study is the first report on the prevalence and molecular characterization of Bartonella spp. in cats and cat fleas in Lithuania.

Highlights

Domestic pets are susceptible to infection by various species of Bartonella and can play a role in human infection
In view of the emergence of zoonotic Bartonella infections, plus the ubiquity and abundance of cats and their close association with humans and the absence of information about occurrences of Bartonella spp. in the Lithuanian population of domestic cats and their ectoparasites, the aim of this study was to investigate the presence of Bartonella in pet and stray cats and cat fleas and to characterize Bartonella strains by PCR and sequence analysis of the 16S–23S rRNA intergenic species region (ITS)
This study is the first report of the presence of Bartonella infections in cats and cat fleas in Lithuania

Summary

Introduction

Domestic pets are susceptible to infection by various species of Bartonella and can play a role in human infection. Cats (Felis catus) are considered the main reservoir of three zoonotic Bartonella species: B. henselae, B. clarridgeiae (both of which can cause catscratch disease) and B. koehlerae (a causative agent of endocarditis in humans). Cat-scratch disease (CSD) is the best-known infection caused by Bartonella bacteria [1,2,3,4]. This zoonosis has a worldwide distribution, but is more commonly detected in warmer climate zones. Bartonella quintana, B. rochalimae, B. elizabethae, B. grahamii, and B. alsatica have been detected in cat fleas [13,14,15,16,17,18]. Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii has been amplified from Pullex spp. fleas [3]

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