Discovery Of New Bartonella Species That Infects Humans 07 Jan 2009
Researchers at North Carolina State University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have produced the first link between a species of bacteria most commonly found in sheep and human illness.
Dr. Edward Breitschwerdt, professor of internal medicine at NC State's College of Veterinary Medicine, and NC State colleague Dr. Ricardo Maggi isolated the bacterium Bartonella melophagi from samples of human blood.
B. melophagi is such a newly discovered member of the genus Bartonella it is considered a "Candidatus" species, meaning that its name has yet to be formally accepted. In nature, sheep are the most likely hosts for B. melophagi and transmission among sheep is thought to occur via a wingless fly known as a ked. The route(s) of transmission to humans is unknown.
Their results are published in the January edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The blood samples Breitschwerdt and Maggi tested came from previously healthy women who were suffering from symptoms including muscle fatigue and weakness. One of the patients had been diagnosed with pericarditis, an inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart. B. melophagi was present in blood samples from both women; Bartonella henselae, a strain of the bacterium which has been associated with human neurological illnesses and fatigue, was isolated from one of the samples.
The research marks the first time that this particular strain of Bartonella has been cultured from human blood and associated with human illness.
"Over the past decade, there has been a rapid expansion in the number of Bartonella species that are documented human pathogens," Breitschwerdt says. "From this preliminary data, it looks as though we may be able to add another species to that list."
"A small number of Bartonella in the bloodstream can cause infection, and this fact, coupled with the large variety of transmission routes by which people can become infected, make the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the illnesses caused by this bacteria a real challenge," Maggi adds. "I think it's critical that we discover more about how this bacteria infects people, and how Bartonella infection relates to the subsequent development of progressive illnesses in humans."
Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :
Thanks Al for sharing this information. I've sent it along to others with credit to you.
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
i didn't see this earlier; taking from bottom of page 2 to page 1 for others to read...
Posted by asus (Member # 13881) on :
Has anyone sent their blood to this researcher? Is this the same thing Fry and Clongen think they see?
Posted by chootik (Member # 11221) on :
Good Question! How did these reserchers find the Bart? What method did they use? I wonder if any commercial labs are doing their tests? I would send my blood in a second to see what they find@=!
Chootik
Posted by katc (Member # 17210) on :
I know he's a vet whom has found batonella in animals and belives in Lyme disease, for people also!!! Imagine that.
Someone posted an article out here before about a boy from Raleigh who was real sick this last summer I think. Maybe the summer before. Anyway, docs weren't really helping and somehow the boys mother heard of this vet and asked if she could send him her sons blood. So she did, and they found bartonella, gave him meds and he was already getting better the next day.
He had had a tick on him, but docs didn't seem to care.
He has stated that docs don't treat lyme because they basically are really unaware of what it really is. And sys they can't treat what they don't know exists. I am sure that is true for some docs, since it is so hush hush. But it is not true for a lot of them.
I'm sure you can google him to find the article, or u might find it out here.
Posted by Kreynolds (Member # 15117) on :
Wow... thats just great... I have both strands of Bart. Im curious to see what other species there may be... seems like theres new ones every time we turn around! Well thanks for posting that.. very informative!!!
Posted by FuzzySlippers (Member # 13658) on :
Hi Al,
Thanks for posting this. I've added this to the Bartonella Information Thread.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)