RESEARCH Bartonella henselae in
(Phocoena phocoena). By using real-time polymerase chain reaction, we directly amplified Bartonella species DNA from blood of a harbor porpoise stranded along the northern North Carolina coast and from a pre-enrichment blood culture from a second harbor porpoise. The second porpoise was captured out...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.376.5175 http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/11/12/pdfs/05-0969.pdf |
| Summary: | (Phocoena phocoena). By using real-time polymerase chain reaction, we directly amplified Bartonella species DNA from blood of a harbor porpoise stranded along the northern North Carolina coast and from a pre-enrichment blood culture from a second harbor porpoise. The second porpoise was captured out of habitat (in a low-salinity canal along the northern North Carolina coast) and relocated back into the ocean. Subsequently, DNA was amplified by conventional polymerase chain reaction for DNA sequencing. The 16S–23S intergenic transcribed spacer region obtained from each porpoise was 99.8 % similar to that of B. henselae strain San Antonio 2 (SA2), whereas both heme-binding phageassociated pap31 gene sequences were 100 % homologous to that of B. henselae SA2. Currently, the geographic distribution, mode of transmission, reservoir potential, and pathogenicity of bloodborne Bartonella species in porpoises have not been determined. Bartonellosis is a newly emerging worldwide zoonotic disease (1,2) that can be caused by a spectrum of Bartonella species. These members of the alpha subdivision of the class Proteobacteria are gram-negative aerobic bacilli and comprise at least 20 species and subspecies. Infection with Bartonella species causes lymphadenopathy (3), disorders of the central nervous system (including encephalopathy, hemiplegia, epilepsy, and subcortical frontoparietal lesions) (4–7), bacillary angiomatosis and |
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