Prevalence of Bartonella henselae antibodies in serum of cats with and without clinical signs of central nervous system disease

Abstract

Bartonella henselae is occasionally associated with neurological dysfunction in people and some experimentally infected cats. The purpose of this study was to determine whether B henselae seroprevalence or titer magnitude varies among cats with neurological disease, cats with non-neurological diseases, and healthy cats while controlling for age and flea exposure. There was no difference in B henselae seroprevalence rates between cats with seizures and cats with other neurological diseases. Cats with non-neurological disease and healthy cats were more likely than cats with neurological disease to be seropositive. While the median B henselae antibody titer was greater in cats with seizures than in cats with other neurological disease, the median B henselae antibody titer was also greater in healthy cats than cats with seizures. The results suggest that titer magnitude cannot be used alone to document clinical disease associated with B henselae infection and that presence of B henselae antibodies in serum of cats with neurological disease does not prove the clinical signs are related to B henselae.