****** Publication: Emerging Infectious Diseases Publication Date: 01-JUN-07 Delivery: Immediate Online Access Author: Breitschwerdt, Edward B. ; Maggi, Ricardo G. ; Duncan, Ashlee W. ; Nicholson, William L. ; Hegarty, Barbara C. ; Woods, Christopher W.
Article Excerpt:
Using PCR in conjunction with pre-enrichment culture, we detected Bartonella henselae and B. vinsonii subspecies berkhoffii in the blood of 14 immunocompetent persons who had frequent animal contact and arthropod exposure.
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Attempts to isolate Bartonella sp. from immunocompetent persons with serologic, pathologic, or molecular evidence of infection are often unsuccessful; several investigators have indicated that Bartonella isolation methods need to be improved (1-4). By combining PCR and pre-enrichment culture, we detected B. henselae and B. vinsonii subspecies berkhoffii infection in the blood of immunocompetent persons who had arthropod and occupational animal exposure.
The Study
From November 2004 through June 2005, blood and serum samples from 42 persons were tested, and 14 completed a questionnaire, approved by the North Carolina State University Institutional Review Board.
Age, sex, animal contact, history of bites, environment, outdoor activity, arthropod contact, travel, and medical history were surveyed. Bacterial isolation, PCR amplification, and cloning were performed by using previously described methods (5-7). Each blood sample was tested by PCR after direct DNA extraction, pre-enrichment culture for at least 7 days, and subculture onto a blood agar plate (Figure).
An uninoculated, pre-enrichment culture was processed simultaneously as a control. Methods used for DNA extraction and conventional and real-time PCR targeting of the Bartonella 16S-23S intergenic spacer (ITS) region and heme-binding protein (Pap31) gene have been described (7,8). Conventional PCR amplicons were cloned with the pGEM-T Easy Vector System (Promega, Madison, WI, USA); sequencing was performed by Davis Sequencing, Inc. (Davis, CA, USA).
Sequences were aligned and compared with GenBank sequences with AlignX software (Vector NTI Suite 6.0 (InforMax, Inc., Bethesda, MD, USA) (7,8). B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii, B. henselae, and B. quintana antibodies were determined by using a modification of a previously described immunofluorescence antibody assay (IFA) procedure (9).
Study participants included 12 women and 2 men, ranging in age from 30 to 53 years; all of them reported occupational animal contact for >10 years (Table).
Most had daily contact with cats (13 persons) and dogs (12 persons).
All participants reported animal bites or scratches (primarily from cats) and arthropod exposure, including fleas, ticks, biting flies, mosquitoes, lice, mites, or chiggers.
All participants reported intermittent or chronic clinical symptoms, including fatigue, arthralgia, myalgia, headache, memory loss, ataxia, and paresthesia (Table). Illness was most frequently mild to moderate in severity, with a waxing and waning course, and all but 2 persons could perform occupational activities.... *****
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Med Parazitol (Mosk). 1999 Oct-Dec;(4):17-22.Links [Ecological aspects of human pathogens Ehrlichia and Bartonella][Article in Russian]
Lukin EP, Grabarev PA.
The review presents data on the natural circulation of Bartonellas and Erlichias with the participation of lice, fleas, mosquitoes, Ixodes ticks, as well as rodents, large wild mammals, and domestic animals.
It outlines the human infection routes that are mainly associated with the attack of infected carriers and with the contacts with different warm-blooded animals.
The risk of bartonellosis spread is evidenced by the data showing that 12.3% of clothes lice collected from homeless individuals in Moscow turned out to be infected.
In a focus of erlichiasis, the infection rates of Ambliomma americanum and Ixodes scapularis were 4.9 and as high as 20%, respectively; 100% of white-tailed deers (Odocoileus virginianus) were seropositive.
However, many issues associated with the preservation of these natural vectors, with the route of their transmission to human beings and animals are to be studied.
PMID: 11220997 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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-------------------- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Remember Iam not a Doctor Just someone struggling like you with Tick Borne Diseases.
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adamm, I'm not sure if it's EM, but it itched for a few months and grew bigger up to the size of my palm. The site remained brownish until 1.5 years later when I had a lot of abx.
you've had similar experience? what abx did you use? thanks!
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Melanie Reber
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
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Thanks SO much Tree-Hugger and Looking!
Those will do just fine. Posts: 7052 | From Colorado | Registered: Mar 2003
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