Bartonella henselae in Porpoise Blood

We report detection of Bartonella henselae DNA in blood samples from 2 harbor porpoises (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 preenric...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging Infectious Diseases
Main Authors: Ricardo G. Maggi, Craig A. Harms, Aleta A. Hohn, D. Ann Pabst, William A. McLellan, Wendy J. Walton, David S. Rotstein, Edward B. Breitschwerdt
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2005
Subjects:
Bartonella
cetacean
porpoise
emerging
stranded
research
Medicine
R
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
Phocoena phocoena
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1112.050969
https://doaj.org/article/ad5f243a1f03478cb1ff1b1562bfe537
Description
Summary:We report detection of Bartonella henselae DNA in blood samples from 2 harbor porpoises (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 preenrichment 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 phage-associated 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.

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